Release date: June 23, 2003
Contact: Nancy Seideman, Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0640 or nseidem@emory.edu

Emory President Applauds Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Decision

Statement by President William M. Chace

"On behalf of the faculty, students, and staff of Emory University, and in union with the great majority of the presidents of private universities, I welcome today the decisions of the Supreme Court with respect to the two affirmative action cases involving the University of Michigan. The Court found a compelling interest in 'obtaining educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.' It thus reaffirmed the principles articulated in the 1978 Bakke decision that found a compelling state interest in racial and ethnic diversity in higher education.

"The Court's support of affirmative action is in harmony with Emory’s desire to attract a diverse student body of the highest quality. Our admissions policies and practices, at both the undergraduate and professional school levels, reflect our conviction, described in the amicus curiae brief we submitted to the Court this spring, that true education must embrace genuine student diversity. We plan no changes whatsoever in those policies and practices, believing them to be fully consonant with the rulings of the Court."

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