HOUSE HOME The Scene TO Significant Ruling U-M attorney tells Washtenaw YAD about diversity decision. JOANNA BRODER Special to the Jewish News Ann Arbor 1ff arvin Krislov, vice presi- dent and general coun- sel of the University of Michigan, proved affir- mative action is still a hot topic when he drew a crowd of 75 to hear about U-M's U.S. Supreme Court case and the university's new admissions policy. The Young Adult Division (YAD) steering committee of the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw County sponsored the event Sept. 10 at the Jewish Community Center of Washtenaw County. Krislov is responsible for the university's legal affairs. He played an integral role in the recent Supreme Court cases involving U-M, which upheld the right to consider race as one factor among many in the admissions process. But the court struck down the use of a point system in the undergrad- uate college. Greg Epstein, a Washtenaw County assistant prosecutor who helped plan the YAD event, went to the U-M law school around the time the cases were filed in 1997. "I know law students are going to be studying these cases for years," he said. "Obviously, I'm interested in what happens in my school." Krislov, who also co-chaired the Federation's annual campaign for the past two years, told the audience that the Supreme Court's ruling was the most significant ruling on race rela- tions in 25 years because the court accepted for the first time the notion that diversity was a compelling inter- est," Krislov said. In a detailed and comprehensive speech that Krislov acknowledged might be more comprehendible to lawyers than the general public, Krislov profiled the history of affirma- tive action and the background behind the two U-M cases — law school and undergraduate. He also talked about the new undergraduate admissions policy. One question U-M needed to prove to the Supreme Court was that there (( was a compelling interest to have diversity on campus. The second was whether the consideration of race was narrowly tailored enough, Krislov said. "There was very strong and unam- biguous support that diversity brings profound educational benefit and is strong enough to justify the use of racial preferences," Krislov said. U-M was less successful at proving its consideration of race was constitu- tional. The court upheld the law school's admission process, but struck down the undergraduate's use of a point system that automatically Marvin Krislov with Ann Arbor YAD steering committee members Liora Rosen, chairman Brian Bernhardt and Greg Epstein. assigned points to certain minority groups. The point system was used as a way of screening the applicants at a very competitive institution, Krislov said. There are approximately 25,000 appli- cants for 5,000 slots in the undergrad- uate college and 5,200 applicants for 250 available spaces in the law school. The new process gets away from mechanized consideration of race, Krislov explained. It has no points and requires admissions counselors to more thoroughly scour applications. It will be more expensive because the less mechanized screening process requires more readers to review application essays. But academic performance still will remain the most important quali- fying factor. During Krislov's speech, a woman in the audience commented about how proud she was "as a Jewish person." When one minority doesn't have equal rights, she said, everyone suffers. Jewish Response The way the Jewish community react- ed to these cases represented a "big historic change from what the Jewish organizations did in 1978," Krislov said, noting that affirmative action has historically been associated with quo- tas, which used to keep the numbers of Jewish attendees down, especially in Ivy League schools. "In 1978, the Jewish community was against the consideration of race and ethnicity — against quotas. By 2003, the leadership in the Jewish community had accepted that race is a concern among many," Krislov said. Jewish organizations filed two briefs with the Supreme Court: the American Jewish Committee (representing seven individual Jewish organizations) filed a brief in support of the university, and the Anti- Defamation League filed an officially neutral brief Krislov played an active role in solicit- ing the support of Jewish organizations. One audience member asked whether the plaintiffs in the under- graduate case would be entitled to any compensation. "We would agree that they won the battle," Krislov said, but he refused to comment on monetary specifics. To collect compensation, plaintiffs must show they would have been admitted under a more constitutional system, and they must demonstrate damages. THIS SEASON, TRANSFORM YOUR HOUSE INTO THE HOME OF YOUR DREAMS. THE PROFESSIONALS AT CONSTRUCTION ZONE HAVE 26 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE. FROM A KITCHEN OR BATHROOM REMODEL TO AN ENTIRE UPSCALE RE-DO. 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