It struck me upon listening to these comments that this was an entire exercise in begging the question. The assumption is that discriminating on the basis of race at the university admissions level is good. Then I remembered the genesis of the Educational Diversity Project at UNC.
Daye had signed an amicus brief before the Supreme Court concerning the Grutter case in which was stated (emphasis added):
“We as amicus, drawing upon over three decades of experience as law teachers, scholars, and administrators, know and confirm that racially diverse law schools deepen legal study and enrich student understanding of the law. Joining thousands of other academic and administrative officials, then, we fully endorse both the empirical assumptions that underlay Justice Powell?s opinion in Bakke as well as its legal conclusion, which affirmed the careful use of race as ‘a plus factor’ in university admissions.”
That was before Daye accepted the grant by the Law School Admission Council “to answer the question: ‘Does diversity offer educational benefits?'” One would think he’d already answered the question; but apparently now the Educational Diversity Project can answer it according to those “empirical assumptions.”
