Since 2006, the University of 

Michigan has been running what 

it calls a “natural experiment” in 

race-neutral admissions. Following 

a 2006 statewide vote that banned 

affirmative action in the state’s 

public universities, the University 

radically shifted its admissions 

procedures for the first time since 

1963 by removing race from the 

admission process. On Oct. 31, 

the Supreme Court will hear the 

lawsuits brought by Students for 

Fair Admissions, an anti-affirmative 

action 
organization 
challenging 

racially 
informed 
admissions 

practices at Harvard University and 

the University of North Carolina.

In an amicus brief in support of 

Harvard and UNC, the University 

of Michigan argued the practice of 

‘race blind’ admissions has failed. 

In 
the 
past 
16 
years, 
the 

percentage of Black students at the 

University has decreased from 7% 

to 4%. The percentage of Native 

American students dropped from 1 

to 0.11 percent, a 90% reduction.

History of Affirmative Action: 

1978-Present 

In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled 

against racial quotas employed by 

the University of California Davis 

Medical School in Board of Regents 

v. Bakke. These quotas limited 

the number of students from each 

racial group that could be admitted 

to the school. However, Justice 

Lewis Powell wrote that using race 

as a criteria in admissions could be 

permissible if it were one of several 

criteria. The Court in Bakke ruled 

that using race as “one factor among 

many” is constitutional under the 

14th Amendment, which provides 

all citizens equal protection under 

the law.

In 
2003, 
the 
University 
of 

Michigan Law School programs 

made headlines in the Supreme 

Court case Grutter v. Bollinger. 

Barbara Grutter, a white resident of 

Michigan and law school applicant, 

sued the Law School after she 

was denied admission. The court 

analyzed her case using the 14th 

Amendment and Title VI of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits 

discrimination on the basis of 

race 
in 
educational 
programs 

receiving Federal funding. With a 

majority opinion by former Justice 

Sandra Day O’Connor, the Law 

School’s admissions practices were 

constitutional under the Bakke 

decision. 
The 
undergraduate 

admissions practices, which utilized 

a “point system” providing explicit 

benefits to minority groups, were 

ruled unconstitutional in Gratz v. 

Bollinger, decided the same year.

University 
of 
Michigan 
law 

professor Michelle Adams said 

O’Connor’s 
opinion 
emphasized 

the “compelling state interests” of 

consideration of race in admissions 

practices. 

“If there’s no exposure to a 

wider variety of individuals and 

viewpoints, those individuals are 

not going to be able to lead with any 

kind of authority, and it’s going to 

cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 

leadership class that gets created,” 

Adams said.

Michigan voters passed Proposal 

2 in 2006, banning all affirmative 

action 
in 
the 
state’s 
public 

universities. In 2014, the Supreme 

Court upheld the constitutionality 

of Proposal 2 in Schuette v. Coalition 

to Defend Affirmative Action.

Affirmative Action in Today’s 

Supreme Court

In anticipation of the Harvard 

and UNC cases, the University 

of 
Michigan 
filed 
its 
amicus 

brief, saying it has had difficulty 

cultivating racial diversity without 

affirmative action. 

The amicus brief cited a decrease 

in racial diversity on campus since 

affirmative action was banned in 

the state of Michigan in 2006. The 

brief says the University supports 

the consideration of race in the 

admissions process.

“U-M’s 
experience 
thus 

represents a natural experiment 

in race-neutral admissions that 

this Court should consider in 

determining whether efficacious 

race-neutral alternatives are in fact 

available to Harvard, UNC, or other 

institutions of higher education,” 

the brief reads. “U-M’s experience 

underscores 
that 
the 
limited 

consideration of race is necessary 

to obtain the educational benefits of 

racial diversity.”

Adams said the University’s 

attempt to increase diversity and 

maintain a selective admissions 

process has proved difficult without 

affirmative action.

The windy and chilly weather on 

Thursday morning signaled that fall 

arrived right on time as students and 

community members gathered on 

the Diag to celebrate Earthfest, an 

annual event promoting sustainability 

initiatives and environmental justice 

organizations to the University of 

Michigan community. 

LSA freshman Wan Alif Zafri Bin 

Wan Azmi came for the free apples 

but stayed to learn more about the 

different clubs and organizations. 

He said he liked the integration of 

sustainability into other aspects of 

campus life.

“I just want to learn more about 

initiatives on campus because I want 

to possibly integrate it into my studies,” 

he said.

Katrina Folsom, marketing and 

communications specialist for the 

Office 
of 
Campus 
Sustainability, 

highlighted the different projects 

and initiatives sponsoring Earthfest, 

including Planet Blue, the University’s 

overarching 
sustainability 
efforts 

and the School for Environment and 

Sustainability. Folsom said one of the 

goals of Earthfest is to reach different 

members of the U-M community, 

particularly given the widespread 

interest on campus.

“The goal is to connect students, 

faculty and staff to ways that they can 

get involved in sustainability here,” 

Folsom said. “We have student groups, 

we have community groups, we have 

campus units to help people find a way 

that they can tap into their interest in 

sustainability.”

U-M Facilities and Operations, one 

of the booths at the event, brought 

new electric lawn mowers and offered 

information about the new electric 

buses that the organization will be 

introducing by the end of the academic 

year. 

“The grounds department brought 

their 
new 
electric 
equipment,” 

Folsom said. “We got a whole suite of 

new electric battery-powered lawn 

equipment. They are quieter and have 

no emissions.”

Folsom 
also 
discussed 
ways 

students can directly make an impact 

by identifying ways to be more 

sustainable. 

“(Planet Blue) places a real emphasis 

on how we’re all going to be part of the 

effort toward carbon neutrality, both 

institutional and individual,” Folsom 

said.

Planet Blue offered apples and apple 

cider while their student ambassadors 

shared information on environmental 

behavior and handed out free stickers 

and reusable water bottles. 

Michigan Dining provided snacks 

made from vegetables grown on the 

Campus Farm at Matthaei Botanical 

Garden. Additionally, the U-M Farm 

Stand held its weekly pop-up market 

in front of the University of Michigan 

Museum of Art.

Rackham 
student 
Isabella 

Beshouri, co-president of the U-M 

Sustainable Food Program, explained 

food sovereignty and what role the 

Campus Farm plays in accessibility. 

“We’re bringing (access to locally 

grown 
fruit 
and 
vegetables) 
to 

students who might not otherwise be 

able to access it and giving them power 

within their food system by doing so,” 

Beshouri said. 

The Campus Farm Stand — a 

weekly pop-up of locally grown 

produce — was also present at 

Earthfest and offered students a 

30% discount. All proceeds to the 

farm stand go to funding student-led 

sustainable food initiatives. Beshouri 

also mentioned that Campus Farm 

is hosting HarvestFest, a sustainable 

food celebration on Sept. 25. 

Art 
& 
Design 
senior 
Emily 

Tamulewicz, 
Student 
Life 

sustainability intern, demonstrated 

how to make paper out of recycled 

materials. 
As 
she 
constructed 

lilac-colored paper for the crowd, 

Tamulewicz said being sustainable 

also involves being creative.

“It’s exciting (hosting) events 

that inform people about what they 

can do to decrease waste, whether 

it’s fun crafts or a lot of composting,” 

Tamulewicz said. “We work a lot with 

the University as a whole as well to 

promote these ideas.”

LSA 
sophomore 
Elizabeth 

Guenther also took part in the fun, 

sipping apple cider and collecting free 

stickers. She said she appreciated the 

relaxed and educational atmosphere 

of Earthfest.

“A lot of the clubs pressure you 

(to join),” Guenther said. “But I feel 

like everyone here is more about 

educating people and letting people 

know about opportunities to help in 

the community and putting awareness 

out.”

LSA freshman Archana Chandran 

said she is always surprised when 

something new happens at the Diag 

and was not aware of Earthfest taking 

place on Thursday. But Chandran 

said she was happy to check out the 

different clubs and learn about the 

programs the University offers.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, September 28, 2022

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Earthfest returns to Diag, promotes awareness 
of sustainable initiatives on campus

CAMPUS LIFE

Here’s a breakdown of affirmative action ban 
at UMich, pending Supreme Court decision 

KEITH MELONG/Daily
Community members celebrate sustainable student-led food initiatives at the 10th annual Harvestfest at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens Sunday afternoon. 

GOVERNMENT

Planet Blue, Campus Farm Stand among those in attendance at annual event

Law experts, campus leaders discuss impact of racially informed admissions practices

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Students and community members gather to celebrate Earthfest, an event providing a 
platform for sustainability initiatives and environmental justice, Thursday on the Diag.

SYDNEY HASTINGS-WILKINS/Daily

TEAGAN STEBBINS
Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

KATE WEILAND & 
EMILY BLUMBERG
Managing Editor & 
Daily Staff Reporter

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publishing weekly on Wednesdays for the 
Fall 2022 semester by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available 
free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office 
for $2. If you would like a current copy of the paper mailed to you, please visit store.
pub.umich.edu/michigan-daily-buy-this-edition to place your order.

VANESSA KIEFER
Joshua Mitnick, 92’, 95’ Managing Editor vkiefer@umich.edu

DOMINIC COLETTI and KRISTINA ZHENG 
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: Anna Fifelski, George Weykamp, Navya Gupta, Roni Kane, 
Shannon Stocking
Investigative Editor: Julian Wray

JULIAN BARNARD and SHUBHUM ‘SHUBS’ GIROTI
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Deputy Editorial Page Editor: Olivia Mouradian
Senior Opinion Editors: Quin Zapoli, Brandon Cowit, Jess D’Agostino, Alex 
Yee, Evan Stern

LILLIAN PEARCE and SABRIYA IMAMI
Managing Arts Editors 
 arts@michigandaily.com

GRACE BEAL and TESS CROWLEY
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com

GRACE TUCKER
Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com

Deputy Editors: Taylor Schott, Julia Maloney
Associate Editor: Lilly Dickman

CAROLINE ATKINSON and ETHAN PATRICK
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com

Senior Copy Editors: Abbie Gaies, Lizzie MacAdam, Dana Elobaid, Ali Chesnick, 
Emily Wilson, Alex Stamell, Audrey Ruhana, Rena McRoy, Melissa Kurpiers

DORA GUO and ERIC LAU
Managing Online Editors 
 webteam@michigandaily.com
Data Editor: Zach Breger
Project Managers: Isis Meng, Aasher Akhlaque, 
Christina Tan, Salik Aslam, Eli Yazdi

HANNAH ELLIOTT and JULIA RAGUCKAS
Managing Video Editors video@michigandaily.com

Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Yasmine Slimani, Safura Syed, Kat Andrade, 
Neil Nakkash, Anchal Malh

Senior Sports Editors: Josh Taubman, Spencer Raines, Lily Israel, Paul Nasar, 
Connor Earegood, Abbie Telgenhof

Senior Social Media Editors: Cristina Costin, Joey Goodsir, Cole Martin, Mae 
Veidlinger, Martina Zacker, Jillian Sacksner, Christian Juliano, Justin O’Beirne

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com

ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com

SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com

NEWS TIPS
tipline@michigandaily.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com

AARON SANTILLI
Business Manager
business@michigandaily.com

PAIGE HODDER
Editor-in-Chief
eic@michigandaily.com

PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com

NEWSROOM
news@michigandaily.com

CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com

JARED GREENSPAN and NICK STOLL
Managing Sports Editors sports@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Emilia Ferrante, Hannah Carapellotti, Erin Evans, Sarah 
Rahman, Fia Kaminski
Arts Beats Editors: Emmy Snyder, Mitchel Green, Laine Brotherton, Matthew 
Eggers, Julian Wray, Nora Lewis

ERIN SHI and SOPHIE GRAND
Managing Design Editors 
 design@michigandaily.com

ELIYA IMTIAZ and JESSICA KWON
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com

EVAN DELORENZO and ZOE STORER
Managing Social Media Editors socialmedia@michigandaily.com

Editorial Staff

Business Staff

Senior Photo Editors: Anna Fuder, Kate Hua, Jeremy Weine, Julianne Yoon, 
Emma Mati

IRENE CHUNG
Creative Director

DOUG MCCLURE and MAX ROSENZWEIG
Managing Podcast Editors podeditors@michigandaily.com

KATIE LYNGKLIP
Sales Manager

ADVERTISING
wmg-contact@umich.edu 

AYA SALIM
Digital Managing Editor ayasalim@umich.edu

AKSHARA KOOTTALA 
Chair of Culture, Training, and Inclusion accessandinclusion@michigandaily.com

Senior Layout Editor: Lys Goldman

KATE WEILAND
Managing Editor kmwblue@umich.edu

