The Diversity Dish: A Weekly Update on Legal Diversity News

Posted by on Friday, February 24, 2012

We've got big news in the Diversity Dish this week.  The Supreme Court has decided to revisit the legality of race-conscious admissions policies at public universities.  Additionally today’s update includes an article about law schools working to increase diversity and some positive news from the census data. 

• 3.1.12 Corporate Counsel reports, “Constrained by court decisions and ballot measures, public law schools have had to find new ways to boost their minority enrollment.”  The article goes on to outline  steps several state schools have taken to increase the diverse student enrollment while compiling with court decisions and state ballot measures.  This may become a more daunting task as the Supreme Court prepares to consider the University of Texas race conscious admissions case later this year.

• 2.23.12 The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights some of the most recent census results around minority gains higher education.  According to the paper, “From 2001 to 2011, the number of Hispanics 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher rose by 80 percent, the figures show. Among blacks, the increase was 47 percent, and among non-Hispanic whites, it was 24 percent.”
  

• 2.21.12 The Supreme Court of the United States has decided to hear Fisher v. Texas a case that deals with the University of Texas’s race-conscious admissions policies.  If you are a regular reader of this blog you know we’ve been writing about the case for some time now.  You can read more about the Court’s decision to hear the case and what the decision might mean for admissions offices around the country on the SCOTUSblog and in The Washington Post.  If you are looking for some more in-depth analysis around the issue of race-conscious admissions  policies be sure to read this New York Times Room for Debate series.