A federal judge is reviewing the constitutionality of Proposal 2 after hearing arguments Wednesday in a U.S. District Court in Detroit.
The University of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan are among the plaintiffs in the case. It was filed in December 2006 and challenges the effects of Proposal 2, which banned the use of affirmative action in public institutions throughout Michigan.
The proposal defined affirmative action as giving preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin. It was passed by voters in the 2006 election.
Kathleen Canning, a history professor at U-M, is among 19 students and faculty members from the university involved in the case and said she joined it because of the students in her classes.
“I teach a large lecture class, and I had many different students with many different backgrounds in the class,” she said. “It was very enlightening for the class to have discussions regarding persecutions.
“When I started thinking of U-M becoming a less diverse place over time, I didn’t subscribe to the idea.”
State Attorney General Mike Cox represented the state of Michigan with arguments supporting the proposal.
The State News failed in its attempts to reach Cox’s spokesmen.
Canning said her history classes draw on their backgrounds and experiences.
“I’m optimistic that there will be ways to keep diversity at U-M,” she said. “This (lawsuit) is one thing we thought we would try.”
ACLU spokeswoman Rana Elmir said if university officials can use factors such as athletic ability and a family’s legacy in the admissions process they also should be able to use race.
“It’s unfair and it’s unconstitutional,” Elmir said.
Melvin Butch Hollowell, counsel to Detroit’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is on the plantiffs’ legal team. He said the case will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
“We believe that this is the most important civil rights case,” he said. “We are seeking the lawsuit to place students of color on equal footing as all other students in the admissions process.”
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said she was unable to comment on the case because the litigation is ongoing and it targets universities.
Joel Ferguson, chairman of the MSU Board of Trustees, said he hopes Proposal 2 is overturned, but isn’t optimistic.
“I don’t necessarily think they can succeed,” he said. “Anybody can file a lawsuit.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
