President Mary Sue Coleman responds to Bush Administration announcement on affirmative action

I was pleased to hear President Bush say that diversity, and explicitly racial diversity, in our student bodies is very important for America's colleges and universities. We agree that universities must continue to strive for improvements in enrollment of African American, Native American and Hispanic students.

Where we disagree is on the means available to achieve that diversity. It is unfortunate that the President misunderstands how our admissions process works at the University of Michigan. It is a complex process that takes many factors into account and considers the entire background of each student applicant, just as the President urged.

We do not have, and have never had, quotas or numerical targets in either the undergraduate or Law School admissions programs. Academic qualifications are the overwhelming consideration for admission to both programs.

In our undergraduate admissions system, fully 110 points out of 150 are given for academic factors including grades, test scores and curriculum. We only count 12 points for test scores, but that is because we value high school grades to a much greater extent—they can earn up to 80 points. We consider many other factors as well. Race is one of those, but a student who is socioeconomically disadvantaged also can earn 20 points (students cannot earn 20 points for both factors, however). Geographic diversity is also important, and a student from Michigan's upper peninsula, for example, earns 16 points. We also consider leadership, service, and life experiences, among other elements.

In making admissions decisions to the Law School, we also carefully review individual experiences and interests in our highly competitive process. Everyone competes fairly for every seat.

In the end our goal is to choose among a pool of well-qualified applicants to enroll a student body that is diverse in a rich variety of ways. We know from extensive research and our experience as teachers that this creates the best learning environment for all our students, majority and minority alike.

There are no easy approaches to achieving the diversity that we agree is important. We all wish there were, but there simply aren't. The percentage plans that some states have tried to achieve diversity in admissions would not work for Michigan, nor for most other colleges and universities in the country. There is no substitute for the careful consideration of race as one of many factors in a competitive admissions process. No alternatives can achieve the goal of a diverse student body while maintaining the high academic standards for which we strive.

We have received an outpouring of support from the nation's educators, the business and labor communities, legal organizations, and many, many others. Their voices will be raised as the cases progress and we anticipate a number of amicus briefs will be filed on our behalf in February.

We look forward to our opportunity to be heard by the Supreme Court. We believe the Court will reaffirm its decision in Bakke and find that the University of Michigan's admissions system is fair and legal under the Constitution.";

More information on the admissions lawsuits >>

January 16, 2003
Statement by University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman to U-M Board of Regents >>