Voices
DEVORAH
LIEBERMAN
HUFFINGTON
10.28.12
Acting Affirmatively
IN THE WAKE of oral arguments
before the United States Supreme Court about the future of
affirmative action in higher education, several experts foresee
conservative justices overturning the law. Others believe that
the court will strike down portions of the policy. Few believe
that it will remain unchanged.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 prohibits discrimination
on the basis of race by recipients
of federal funds. Shortly after
the act was signed, colleges and
universities voluntarily beg an to
take affirmative action to increase
higher education enrollment opportunities for African Americans,
Latinos, Asian Americans, Native
Americans and other minorities.
Within four years, according to
the Census Bureau, student enrollment from these diverse populations began to climb steadily.
As a former vice provost at a
public university, provost at an
ILLUSTRATION BY DONGYUN LEE
urban private university, and now
president of a mid-sized private
university, I can assert that if
one’s goal is to diversify enrollments, then affirmative action has
been an effective practice. I have
seen firsthand the positive impact
it has made in regard to educational access and student popula-
Devorah
Lieberman is
president of
the University
of La Verne