Diversity on campus more difficult without affirmative action, but not impossible, officials say
(CBS DETROIT) - The U.S. Supreme Court made a major ruling last week that will impact college campuses for years to come. But Michigan is in a unique position as voters barred using affirmative action in college admissions cases back in 2006.
A University of Michigan spokesman tells CBS News Detroit that in the years since, maintaining diversity on campus is more difficult.
"We've been working and somewhat providing a bit of a test case, I suppose, about what other approaches universities might take to create a diverse student body, without considering race in the admissions process. Frankly, what we found is that it doesn't work as well," said Rick Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the University of Michigan.
Back in 2006, Michigan voters decided by ballot proposal to prohibit the use of race in college admissions. It's the same move that the U.S. Supreme Court made last week. It forces colleges to use other factors in their admissions process to create diverse student populations.
"Largely one of the main things we've done is is focus more on socioeconomic factors in admissions. And the analysis so far is that it's not as effective as actually considering race," Fitzgerald said.
Prior to the ballot proposal, the University of Michigan saw Black student populations of about 7% to 9% of the student body. But after the change went into effect, only about 4%. Even in the 17 years since, those numbers haven't recovered.
"What has worked is that if you look at underrepresented minorities overall or collectively, we have been nudging that number up in recent years, increasing a bit each year," Fitzgerald said. "I think that there's no one process or one approach that works. But the number of things we do, for example, what in our admissions process we do what we call a holistic review of an applicant."
Looking at socioeconomic status, extracurricular activities, and even taking a look at the high school from which a student comes, are all factors. Fitzgerald tells CBS News Detroit the need for diversity on campus is fundamental to successful students and research.
"To be a major research institution, it's important that we have a community of scholars that are from different backgrounds," he said. "Different communities bring different life experiences because when they work together and learn together, they make better decisions."
In the years to come, Fitzgerald says he expects other states across the country to look into Michigan and the eight other states that have already done away with affirmative action in admissions for how to adapt to this new ruling.
