Campaign begins for ballot initiative

By <br>By Ryan Vlcko
Daily Staff Reporter  On  January 13th, 2004

FARMINGTON HILLS — Led by a familiar opponent of the
University’s race-conscious admissions programs, the Michigan
Civil Rights Initiative announced yesterday the beginning of its
campaign to ban the use of racial preferences in college
admissions.

“No one should be discriminated against on the basis of
gender, religion, skin color,or national origin,” said
Jennifer Gratz, who sued the University after she was denied
admission to the College of Literature, Science and the Arts.

Gratz will also serve as executive director of the MCRI
campaign.

Gratz and Barbara Grutter, a member of the MCRI, were among the
first to sign the petition. Grutter sued after being denied
admission to the University’s Law School.

The petition drive for the ballot initiative, proposed by
University of California Regent Ward Connerly, needs to collect
317,575 signatures within 180 days. Then a a proposal to amend the
Michigan constitution will be placed on the ballot this
November.

If passed, the ballot initiative would also end the use of
ethnicity and several other characterstics in public employment and
contracting as well as education.

Shortly after the court rulings in June, Connerly announced his
plans to contribute to the initiative in Michigan. As chairman of
the American Civil Rights Coalition, Connerly led a similar
campaign in California that successfully banned race-conscious
college admissions.

While Gratz praised the ideal of diversity, she said
race-conscious college admissions policies create a “vicious
cycle of injustice.” Racial preferences in college admissions
“only put a band-aid on the immediate problem,” and
there are better alternatives, she said. She did not specify any
alternatives to race-conscious admissions policies.

At the press conference kicking off the campaign, Gratz and MCRI
Campaign Manager Tim O’Brien reaffirmed their support for
affirmative action.

O’Brien said the original purpose of affirmative action
was to assist talented students in poor communities. He said the
intention was not to change college admissions standards.

Fundamental to the different interpretations of affirmative
action is a belief in how to achieve equality. MCRI asserted that
merit and ability should be the standard for college admissions
— not race.

“I believe affirmative action is about giving equality
… giving people access” without discrimination, Gratz
said.

But protesters before the event confronted MCRI members about
their controversial claims to be supporters of affirmative
action.

“This ballot initiative is a conscious attempt to defraud
and deceive the Michigan voters. Its aim is to ban all affirmative
action in Michigan and nullify the Supreme Court decision in
Grutter v. Bollinger,” said National BAMN Co-Chair
Luke Massie.

BAMN and other activists counter that race-conscious admissions
are necessary for equality.

Massie argued that there is a pattern of discrimination
throughout history. “Inequality is an inescapable part of
society. What affirmative action attempts to do is offset that.
Without (racial preferences) the University of Michigan would
return to a virtually all white institution as it was before
affirmative action was instituted,” he said. “I
don’t think there’s any underqualified minorities that
have been accepted to the University of Michigan,” he
added.

Polls indicate that over half of Michigan’s voters oppose
racial preferences.

And students are part of the largest group that approve of
banning racial preferences in higher education, said Gratz.

“Most support comes from young voters” according to
a recent poll, she said.

But opposition from the Democratic and Republican parties may
prove to be an obstacle for MCRI.

Despite the presence of three republican state representatives
at the event yesterday, prominent members of the Michigan
Republican Party, such as GOP Chair Betsy DeVos, view MCRI as a
threat to stability.

MCRI Co-Chair and State Rep. Leon Drolet (R-Clinton Twp) said
Connerly will be an advisor to the MCRI.

“Ward’s national organization is an important source
of advice. No one is more experienced,” Drolet said.

The first person to sign the MCRI petition was University
philosophy Prof. and MCRI member Carl Cohen, who encouraged Gratz
to bring a lawsuit against the University.

“With this initiative let us guarantee that all citizens
regardless of their race or national origin will be equal before
the law,” said Cohen as he signed the petition.

The signature drive is expected to cost $1 million, and if the
petition is completed MCRI expects to spend another $4 million
getting the initiative passed.

Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 26 May 2012 19:06:02 -0400