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One hundred seven years of editornidfreedom
Wednesday
December 3, 1997
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University of Michigan
Law School statistics for
So class of 1999
Number of students:
Applied - 3,636
Accepted 1,123
Enrolled , 319 Question No 11
on the applicatioh
Median of those enrolled; asks for the "race
GPA: 3.5 or ethnicity which
LSAT: 167 you thiok best
applies to you-"
C,-,
s.,yr.k K k n'1 "..
Class composition.
Male: 64%
Female: 36%
Minority: 21%
New lawsuit opposes admissions policy
By Heather Kamins
and Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporters
The law firm challenging the University's
e undergraduate admissions policies will file a
similar suit today against the Law School.
Barbara Grutter, who applied to the Law
School in December 1996 and was denied
admission to this past Fall's incoming class, is
suing the University, alleging that the admis-
sions policies discriminated against her by giv-
ing racial preferences to minority students.
"The plantiff in this case has a very com-
pelling case that will hold up in court,"
Michael Greve, executive director of the
Washington D.C.-based law firm Center =for
Individual Rights, told The Michigan Daily
yesterday.
CIR filed the original suit against the
University's undergraduate admissions policies
in October and will now represent Grutter.
"Race is a very substantial factor in the
University of Michigan admissions," Greve
said.
Grutter, 44, graduated from Michigan State
University in 1978 with a GPA of 3.81 and
LSAT score of 161. For 11 years, Grutter has
run a health care information consulting busi-
ness.
The suit claims Grutter suffered humiliation,
emotional distress, pain and suffering and eco-
nomic damages from not being admitting to
the University. The suit states that she is still
willing to attend the Law School.
The complaint, filed by CIR, names
University President Lee Bollinger, Law Dean
Jeffrey Lehman, Assistant Dean for Law
School Admissions Dennis Shields, the
University Board of Regents and the Law
School as defendants in a class-action suit.
Lehman said he is confident the school's
admissions policy is constitutional.
"We do not use quotas," Lehman said. "We
are fortunate that we have far more well-quali-
fied applicants than we can accept each year."
Of the 3,636 students who applied for
admission to the Law School's class of 1999,
1,123 were accepted. Minority students com-
prise 21 percent of the 1999 Law class.
University President Lee Bollinger said the
addition of a new lawsuit does not change the
core public policy issues at stake, nor does it
aid the firm's aggressive tactics against affir-
mative action nationwide.
"I don't think it enhances their position in
any way," Bollinger said. "The great issue is
will we, as Texas and California sadly demon-
strate, head towards a resegregation in educa-
tion or will we continue to strive towards the
ideals of Brown v. Board of.Education."
Terry Pell, senior legal counsel for ClR, said
the two lawsuits are currently separate because
they challenge admissions programs in differ-
ent colleges within the University.
"This is a separate second lawsuit," Pell said.
"As the two lawsuits progress, they may be
combined if they have very similar characteris-
tics. But we do not know about that now.
See LAWSUIT, Page 2
"We believe that
the racial and
ethnic diversity
that has resulted
has made the
University of
Mihian Lawn
School a better
law school than it
could possibly
have been
otherwise.
- Report of the Law School
Admissions Committee
WU to issue
esponse to
original suit
By Heather Kamins
Daily Staff Reporter
The University is scheduled to submit an official response
today to the ongoing lawsuit challenging its use of affirma-
ta action in the undergraduate admissions process.
e lawsuit, filed Oct. 14, claims the University's use of race
as a factor in admission to the College of Literature, Science
and the Arts violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison
said he could not comment on the specifics of the response.
"While I cannot divulge the content of our answer, I
believe members of the University community can expect us
to offer a strong defense of our policies and an affirmation of
our goal of retaining a diverse student body," Harrison said.
Michael Greve, executive director of the Center for
I vidual Rights, the Washington, D.C.-based thinktank that
brought the suit against the University, said he does not
expect anything of importance to be revealed in the response.
"At these early stages, there are never any breakthroughs,'
Greve said. "This is run-of-the mill stuff. Are we terribly con-
cerned? No."
The University's response comes a month after its original due
date. Through a verbal agreement between the University and
CIR, the deadline was moved back from Nov. 3 to Dec. 3.
University Law School professors said that usually such
responses are just formalities, but defendants can ask for cer-
t parts of the motion to be dismissed. They speculated that
University might claim that certain parties named in the
suit are inappropriate.
The defendants named in the suit are the University, LSA,
former University President James Duderstadt and
University President Lee Bollinger.
- Daily Staff Reporter Jeffrey Kosseff contributed to this
report.
JOHN KRAFT/Daily
Pre4aw Club President Amy Lu speaks to students interest-
ed in applying to law school. Some club members plan to
apply to the University's Law School.
"We are confident
that our admissions
policy is
constitutional."
- Jeffrey Lehman, Law Dean
"The plantiff in
very compelling
up in court."
this case has a
case that will hold
- Michael Greve, CIR
KEVIN KRUPITZER/Daily
Law second-year students Rocky Dhir, Wendy Maranty and Colin Wexler do research in the Law Library. A class-action lawsuit
challenging the Law School's admissions policies Is expected to be filed today.
I
tudents line
up for tickets
By Steve Iorwltz
Daily Staff Reporter
Despite long lines, high ticket prices and even
higher travel costs, few students are experiencing
buyer's remorse where the Rose Bowl is con-
c ed. But if Christmas came early this year for
verine fans, many are seeing first hand why
the holiday season is so stressful.
Purchasing tickets was an exhausting process in
itself yesterday. The ticket line outside Yost Ice
Arena snaked around an adjacent parking lot dur-
ing the first day of student ticket voucher sales.
Tom Karunas, game day supervisor of ticket
sales, said about 3,000 student tickets were sold
yesterday.
"I've waited 45 minutes and moved about 35
f t," said LSA senior Jim Schumacher, one of the
mated 5,000-7,000 students expected to buy
tickets for the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena.
"It's a hell of a lot longer than I expected," he
said. "I'll probably be (here) another three hours."
Although the line was long, students remained
See TICKETS, Page 7
'U
aims to maximize diversity
By Christine M. Palk extremely rich and diverse campus."
Daily Staff Reporter Rasmussen said while Michigan has
Court actions, student opinion and the become one of the most numerically diverse
nation's political climate all affect how cam- institutions in the country in the past 15
puses perceive issues of diversity. Finding years, demographics are not the most impor-
themselves in the middle of a constantly tant factors when it comes to diversity.
changing debate, administrators at the "It's not really that Michigan needs to be
University and nationwide say they share the concerned with diversity, in terms of num-
common goal of promoting diversity in bers," Rasmussen said. "What we really need
America's campuses. is to maximize the diversity that's already
Sue Rasmussen, associate director of the here. We have the building blocks; the ques-
University's Department of Affirmative tion now is, how do we take advantage of what
Action, said she is pleased with the we have, and how can we share our
University's increasingly resources?"
diverse population, but says e t +tRasmussen said the
there is always room for w.. question is not being suffi-
change. r.ciently addressed. She
"Compared to other believes students at the
schools, I'd say we're doing University "tend to stay
OK," Rasmussen said. "We within their own groups."
need to be proud of where University administrators,
we've come. But that does- faculty and staff are an inte-
n't mean we stop here" gral part of the necessary
Provost Nancy Cantor - change, Rasmussen said.
said a diverse campus is "We can't force people
"absolutely necessary" in today's society. to integrate, but one thing the University can
"The most important reason to have diver- do is to promote intergroup action with dia-
sity is that by having peonle with very logue groups, task groups, project groups, to
Asian American
Native American
'C African American
} Foreign
MICHELLE McCOMBS
Cantor maintained that students in Ann
Arbor seem to interact well.
"I think people mix on this campus quite
a bit through the classroom, athletics, and
extracurricular activities," Cantor said. "I
think there's actually quite a bit of mixing."
John Matlock, assistant vice provost and
director of the Office of Academic
LSA senior Bill Hasler and his brother, Engineering
sophomore Brad Hasler, camped outside Yost Ice
Arena yesterday for Rose Bowl tickets.
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