Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2003 that using race in the college admissions process is acceptable, it seems to have done little to silence the debate that continues to swirl around the issue.

And public colleges in Michigan remain divided on whether or not to consider race during their admissions processes.

An investigation conducted by The State News found that colleges that use race in the review process - the University of Michigan and MSU - were not, on average, more racially diverse than the schools that didn't.

In 2003, MSU's minority population was 24 percent. U-M, the only other Michigan school that uses race in the admissions process, had a minority population of 13.9 percent.

The numbers of minority students seemed to change similarly at every college, regardless of the use of race when admitting students.

The State News reviewed records of all 15 public colleges and universities in the state, examining as far back as records were made available. Records at the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus went as far back as 1975, for example, while those at the University of Michigan-Flint only dated back to 1995.

The percentages of minority students, including international students, enrolled in 2003 ranges from 9 percent of Western Michigan University's 29,178 students to UM-Flint, where 15 percent of the 5,578 students enrolled are minorities. Race is not a factor in the admissions process at either school and international students are not listed separately.

In 2003, the most diverse college was Wayne State University, with 34 percent of its 33,091 students being minorities. The least diverse campus was Saginaw Valley State University, with only a 8 percent minority population.

Law of the land

In June 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States heard the cases of Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, which challenged the UM-Ann Arbor practice of using affirmative action in its law school and undergraduate school.

In Gratz v. Bollinger, which centered around the undergraduate school's admissions process, the court ruled 6-3 that the use of affirmative action was unconstitutional because it used a points-based system when looking at race.

But in Grutter v. Bollinger, which focused on the law school's admissions process, the court ruled differently. In a 5-4 decision, the court stated that the practice was constitutional because it did not involve a points-based system. The court also stated that the use of affirmative action is allowable, but shouldn't be used for long.

"Race-conscious admissions policies must be limited in time," the court statement read. "The Court takes the Law School at its word that it would like nothing better than to find a race-neutral admissions formula and will terminate its use of racial preferences as soon as practicable. The Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today."

Despite the high court's decision, there have been several legal challenges in Michigan during the past year.

One petition drive by the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative would have made it illegal for colleges and businesses to use race in the admissions and hiring processes. The group is hoping to get the initiative on the 2006 ballot.

An amendment tacked onto the state's higher-education budget tried to stop funding to colleges and universities that use race in their admissions procedures. The measure was later struck down by the state Senate on June 19.

Thirteen of Michigan's 15 public colleges and universities say they don't look at race during the admissions process, but officials from the schools say they still care about making their respective universities more diverse.

"Western continues to be committed to increasing the overall diversity of the student body," said John Fraire, dean of admissions for Western Michigan.

Fraire also said the school works to recruit different kinds of students, including minorities, which he said he believes has helped the numbers grow.

"We're putting a lot of effort into recruitment and enrollment," he said.

According to Western Michigan's records of the past 17 years, the number of minority students has increased by 3 percent.

"I am always impressed with the diversity and backgrounds of the professionals I'm attending class with," said Aaron Smith, a white Western Michigan student who graduated in April after pursuing his master's degree in business.

"Each class I attended, I thought there was a good variety. It was a diverse group."

At the other public universities in the state, minority numbers sometimes significantly varied. Officials attribute this to a number of reasons, including the diversity of the population surrounding a school.

Location, location, location

According to Susan Zweig, Wayne State's admissions director, high numbers of minority students are due to the school's location in Detroit, which, according to the 2000 Census, has an 81.6 percent black population.

"When you're an urban school, you are blessed with a diverse environment," Zweig said. "Our primary market is the Detroit Public Schools, which, in and of themselves, have a diverse population."

The universities gather these numbers and other student information, such as gender and age. This information can help administrators know where they need to try to recruit more students, college officials say.

"It's always a relevant issue to the university," said James Dwyer, director of the admissions office for Saginaw Valley State. "We are tracking kids locally so we can see if we're getting the mix we would like to have for the incoming freshman class."

April Lewis, who is black, received her masters of public administration from UM-Dearborn in 2004. She said she thinks the campus was relatively diverse.

"They had a decent level of diversity, but there's always room for improvement," Lewis said.

Several university officials said the diversity in their schools is largely tied to the percentage of different minorities in the surrounding area.

Lake Superior State University spokesman John Shibley said many students stay in the same area where they are from. He said this prohibits urban-area students in the lower peninsula from coming to the Sault Ste. Marie campus.

"So if there's somebody from the down-state area, they might want to go to a school closer to home," Shibley said. "It's the close-to-home syndrome."

Sault Ste. Marie has a population that is 6.5 percent black and 13.7 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, and at Lake Superior State, American-Indian students were 10 percent of the population, while .02 percent were black.

Maureen Eke, associate vice president for diversity and internal education at Central Michigan, said students often are attracted to campuses based on convenience.

"It's possible if students are thinking about the cost of their education, they might choose a college that is close to home," she said. "They might want familiarity, and Mount Pleasant doesn't have a large minority population."

And then there were two

UM-Ann Arbor spokeswoman Deborah Greene said the school has been looking at race in the admissions process since the 1960s, and affirmative action is an important tool in maintaining diversity.

"There's nothing else you could put there to replace it," Greene said.

But Paulette Granberry Russell, director of the Office for Affirmative Action, Compliance and Monitoring for MSU, said race is only a small part of the admissions process.

"At MSU, race is not a defining feature of who gets in," Granberry Russell said. "We're looking at a broad range of attributes of a student."

Ted Montgomery, spokesman for Oakland University, said they try to market the college to all students by operating general recruitment efforts.

"We recruit students all over the place," Montgomery said. "We recruit students in Detroit and Macomb County, where a large majority of our students come from. We don't have any targeted areas; we just try to get the best students for our university."

Dwyer, of Saginaw Valley State, said because so many colleges are trying to be diverse, it often is hard to attract as many students as they would like.

"A variety of issues come into play with the challenges of recruiting students," Dwyer said. "We want diversity and Ann Arbor wants them, too. It is incredibly competitive. Kids have choices, so reality comes into play. What kind of environment and financial aid do you offer?"

Despite this, Dwyer said he believes there is no reason for Saginaw Valley State to use affirmative action.

"We're a regional institution and most of our students come from the state of Michigan," Dwyer said. "We treat every student the same that wants to come here.

"We're not U-M and we don't want to be them, but they don't want to be us, either. At a school where the standards are higher, it's tougher."

U-M officials agree, saying because UM-Dearborn is so much smaller than its counterpart in Ann Arbor, it doesn't have to have as many policies when dealing with student applications.

"We have not been faced with the kind of challenge of having to sort through applications," said Donna McKinley, vice-chancellor of student affairs at UM-Dearborn. "We can accommodate all eligible students; there's room for them here."

Shibley, of Lake Superior State, said he believes it is essential for colleges to have diverse programs.

"It's definitely part of higher education to be exposed to different cultures and have exposure to different points of view," Shibley said. "It contributes overall to the college experience."

He said he doesn't believe Lake Superior State needs to take the steps toward affirmative action yet.

"There are different ways to do this other than affirmative action," Shibley said.

"It could be as simple as going to different areas of schools and recruiting different demographic areas of the state."

McKinley said UM-Dearborn officials also talk to students about pursuing college.

"Our purpose isn't specifically recruitment, but to encourage young people to aspire to higher education and to introduce them to the idea that they can attend college," McKinley said.

At Northern Michigan University, 7 percent of its 9,326 students in 2003 were minorities, and officials say there's no need to use affirmative action. Students who did not list their race were not counted as minorities but were factored into the total population.

"We admit every qualified student; we don't have to devise formulas for academic qualifications," said Jerri Daniels, Northern Michigan's director of admissions. "There's space for them."

At UM-Flint, admissions Director Kimberly Williams said the college works with other organizations to try to attract minority students, but doesn't have any special programs specifically for minority students.

"We have a personalized approach to recruitment in general," Williams said.

Michigan Technical University spokesman Dean Woodbeck said it will take work before more minority students come to the campus.

"A lot of it is because the white male is our traditional market, and once we get known for that, it takes a while to change the perception," Woodbeck said.

"It's sort of the combination of distance from where they live, the culture and the perception of what our student is."

If not affirmative action, then what?

Officials from UM-Ann Arbor and MSU say they are always looking for new ways to recruit more minority students and are going into high schools to try to get a more diverse student body.

"There's a lot of outreach and recruiting that's done, to the extent that we are able to target schools that have representations of students of color," MSU's Granberry Russell said. "We engage in direct outreach with the students throughout Michigan and out of state to encourage them to try and consider Michigan. We engage in aggressive recruiting."

MSU tries to recruit minority students by going to high schools and talking to students and counselors, Granberry Russell said, adding that they try to get students' families involved in the process.

"Part of the success is engaging the students and the students' families, particularly among the communities of color," she said. "That kind of effort does resonate with them and their families - you get good results with that."

She said the university tries to get students involved in the college through programs geared toward minority students, which give students the chance to see MSU and college in general as an option.

"They have certainly assisted us in creating a diverse community at MSU," Granberry Russell said. "This is not work you can engage in passively; it's a challenge."

Political science and pre-law junior Matt Abdo, who is white, said MSU's campus is more reflective of the way most societies are.

"It's diverse in the way that the real world would be diverse," Abdo said.

Because MSU did not use a point system, it was not affected by the Supreme Court ruling like UM-Ann Arbor, which also is engaged in working with high schools to attract minority students.

"We always use outreach for students," said Greene, of UM-Ann Arbor. "We visit high schools throughout the state, sometimes in Grand Rapids, Detroit and Holly. We go where we're invited and where there's a high level of interest."

Greene also said the most effective way to have a diverse student body is to use race in the admissions process and to do outreach, which includes sending representatives to high schools to speak to students and help them with the application process.

"They all work together. We have never just relied on one method to get potential students, it always goes hand in hand," Greene said. "The Supreme Court agreed that to achieve racial and ethnic diversity is a compelling interest, and using affirmative action is a very reliable tool."

Percy Bates, education professor and director of the program for education opportunity at UM-Ann Arbor, said universities and colleges need to work with high schools to encourage students to pursue higher education.

"We need to do a better job of getting students of color into the mindset of college," Bates said. "We need to do a lot more work with the counselors and the parents to get the kids to believe that college is within their reach."

Bates also said he believes if universities focused more on helping high school students become better prepared for college, there would be no need to use affirmative action.

"The issue is that we always start at the back end and we look at the student population and become aware that it's not diverse," Bates said. "If you do some of these things, you don't have to focus on race in any way."

Others, such as Michigan Civil Rights Initiative spokesman Chetly Zarko, said schools shouldn't just focus on minority students, but on those who are economically disadvantaged as well.

"The goal of attracting minorities should be a primary goal. We should be helping people in need," Zarko said. "If you help people in need, minorities will follow and the best way to attract minorities is to increase financial aid.

"Race preferences cover up a problem. It makes it look more diverse, but you don't solve the problems that cause the lack of diversity."

Zarko also said schools need to work to address the questions of equality in education.

"The one question the Supreme Court failed to address was that they said they didn't want these policies around 25 years from now, but they could still be constitutional 50 years from now," Zarko said. "There's no teeth in their decision."