In light of the outcome of Gratz v. Bollinger last term, invalidating University of Michigan’s automatic award of twenty admissions “points” to minority students, it seems clear that educational programs that are limited to minority students are illegal, and, when funded by the government, unconstitutional (the standard, according to Supreme Court precedent, being the same). Nevertheless, my inbox brings me news of the “National Science Foundation’s Law and Social Science Program to support the Law and Social Sciences Pre-Dissertation Minority Fellowship and Mentoring Program.” Only first and second-year graduate students from underrepresented minority groups in law and social sciences (which, unlike most affirmative action programs, includes Asian Americans) who are in social science departments are eligible to apply. My views on affirmative action are tinged with a certain degree of ambivalence, at least with regard to African Americans, but I find it remarkable that the culture of racial preferences is so strong among the academic elite that what seems like a blatantly illegal, exclusive program would be advertised so nonchalantly.
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