ALEXANDRIA, VA–The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism (CAC) today filed a “friend of the Court” brief with the United States Supreme Court supporting the petitioners in Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, a pair of challenges to race-based admissions policies at the University of Michigan. Gratz deals with UM’s undergraduate admissions, while Grutter challenges the Law School’s policy. Both cases are on appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, based in Cincinnati.
“Race has no place in a university’s admissions process,” CAC Chairman Nicholas Provenzo said. “The University of Michigan’s emphasis on race in admissions is so obviously irrational and illogical, it is almost beneath us to have to debate it. However, given the vast number of groups supporting the University, CAC felt it was necessary to emphatically state the case for individualism in education.”
The eight-page brief offers the Court a clear philosophical context for declaring Michigan’s policies unconstitutional. CAC argues that race has no bearing on an individual’s educational ability, and that any reliance on racial factors denies prospective students their right to be judged on individual merit.
“Michigan’s undergraduate school gives prospective students 12 points [towards the required 105 points for admission] for a perfect SAT score, yet automatically awards 20 points simply for stating one is black, Hispanic, or Native American,” says Provenzo.
“The message here is unmistakable–the University believes that an individual’s race impacts their achievement, and then it grants their race more prominence than their actual abilities in evaluating them for admission,” says Provenzo. “The University’s position is patently false, racist and bankrupt. Under the Constitution, no government-run institution should be allowed to use race to judge for or against any individual.”
The brief was drafted by Nicholas Provenzo and CAC senior fellow Skip Oliva, and filed by attorney David R. Burton of the Argus Group.