U.S. Commission on Civil Rights member Peter Kirsanow is co-author of the amicus brief.Two members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently filed an amicus brief opposing the consideration of race in the still-pending Supreme Court case Fisher v. Texas.
Saying that “colleges and universities that offer preferential treatment to students based on their race, ethnicity or any other status (including legacy status) aren’t doing these students any favors,” U.S. Commission on Civil Rights members Gail Heriot and Peter Kirsanow decried the use of what they see as affirmative action by The University of Texas, saying the policies “neglect the interests of flesh and blood students in a misguided effort at attaining social justice and for failing to warn students of the research indicating the risk.”
The pair goes on to assert that students who benefit from affirmative action policies — rather than being admitted by a race-blind system that considers credentials alone — suffer academically, which subsequently diminishes career prospects, according to what they call a “mounting body of evidence.”
In a July interview with Diverse, however, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education Catherine E. Lhamon said that there is still a place for an affirmative effort to admit students of color into public institutions across the United States, based on the feedback she receives from administrators on campus.
“We have a history that is pretty unattractive in the ways that we’ve tried to keep people from opportunities, and that’s far from limited to Black students,” she said at the time. “We have an ugly history of discrimination that extends to many groups. The instances of ways to discriminate are legion, and I am a firm believer in the maxim that the price for liberty is vigilance.”
Oral arguments in the case are not expected until the end of 2015, with a decision likely forthcoming next year.
