Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Abigail Fisher, a young caucasian woman claiming she was denied admission to the University of Texas because of affirmative action. Over the past thirty years, many institutions of higher education have consciously tried, and struggled, to create a fair admissions process with a diverse student body. How do you feel about affirmative action being integrated into universities' admission processes? Should race play a role in the decision?

Benjamin Sternberg '14

As a student who has learned much about the Supreme Court's decisions, I completely agree with how the Supreme Court has decided on affirmative action thus far, and I believe that Brandeis should make sure to uphold those ideas as much as possible. In Parents Involved [in community schools] vs. Seattle School District, Justice Anthony Kennedy  believed in an ideal "critical mass" of the diverse student body for admittance boards to work towards, for the optimal educational benefits. I completely agree with this opinion, and I believe that Brandeis must continue allowing minority students to join our campus, but cannot fall down the slippery slope to outright race-based decision making.
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Benjamin Sternberg '14 is a member of the Brandeis Orthodox Organization.

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Aaron Fried '14

Race should play absolutely no role in the judgment of a person's character, in any situation. The pigments in a person's skin cannot tell a college admissions board any information even remotely relevant to a student's intelligence, work ethic or academic ability. The only diversity that should matter to an institution of learning is the diversity of ideas, not a racist diversity of flesh. If universities intend to continue these racist admission policies, I'd like to recommend that they act consistently in their obsession with appearance, and include application fields for hair color, eye color, height, weight and shoe size.

Aaron Fried '14 is the president of the Young Americans for Liberty and a columnist for the Justice.

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Prof. Andreas Teuber (PHIL)

Diversity matters. Not only to Brandeis but to businesses and the military. Many top Fortune 500 companies, including General Electric, Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola filed friend-of-the-court briefs in favor of race-sensitive admissions policies in Grutter v. Bollinger. The Marine Corps, the Army, the Navy and Air Force argued that such policies are essential to our national security. But how much diversity does a university need? That was a question asked repeatedly on Wednesday. "What is the critical mass of African-Americans and Hispanics at the university," the Chief Justice asked, "that you are working toward?" or as Justice Sonia Sotomayor put it: "At what point do we stop deferring to the university's judgment that race is still necessary?" How much longer does the university need to take race into account to achieve diversity? Again, Justice Sotomayor: "That's the bottom line of this case." Have we reached that point? Some believe we have. I believe we have not.

Andreas Teuber is a professor in the Philosophy department.

Adam Rabinowitz '14

Affirmative action is an ambitious practice to encourage diversity. However, in light of a motive to visibly promote the ethnic composition of these communities, it comes at the expense of students who are otherwise well-equipped to attend these elite colleges and universities. This is reverse affirmative action and is inimical to the motive of enhancing the quality of universities. Colleges are encouraged to compile a diverse student body - but not while inhibiting the growth of a university's merit.

Adam Rabinowitz '14 is the president of Brandeis Democrats and the Sports editor of the Justice.  


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