This past Wednesday, three representatives of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) spoke at Afrikan Heritage House. Tania Kappner, the scheduled speaker was stuck in Toledo with a flat tire and did not attend.
BAMN was founded in Berkeley, California in 1995 in response to a proposal of the University of California system that threatened affirmitive action.
Before the speakers late arrival, Nicolas Stahelin, a representative for the Oberlin Coalition for Affirmative Action, led a general discussion on the history of affirmative action and the many lawsuits revolving around it. Next week, a Court of Appeals in Cincinnati will decide whether the Univerity of Michigan’s affirmitive action policies are consitutional. This issue has become the current focus of activism of both groups.
It has been ruled unconstitutional to give preference to certain individuals solely on the basis of race or group affiliation. However, the way affirmative action is currently employed in the admissions and hiring policies of many academic and professional institutions is that race or gender is seen as one among many factors taken into consideration. This is justified on the grounds that diversity within organizations and institutions is generally beneficial to that environment.
Therefore, if an acceptance choice must be made between two students who compare equally in academic and personal merit, the one who is an underrepresented minority (racial or gender) within the institution is more likely to be admitted.
Representatives of BAMN argue that affirmitive action it is not simply a way of achieving a certain level of diversity; it is also a way of continuing the fight for equality.
The group seeks to achieve a state of freely given, socially acknowledged equity and accurate demographic representation in social, occupational and educational institutions. It is currently trying to build a movement to convince legislative and judicial institutions that it is the will of the people that affirmative action be upheld.
In 1997 the Center for Individual Rights, a conservative organization, supported a group of students who filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan. As a result of the suit, affirmative action was defended at the undergraduate level and banned at the graduate level. The representatives of BAMN assisted the University of Michigan in defending affirmative action in the court case. The decision is being appealed on Dec. 6 in Cincinnati.
The appeal is seen as pivotal by many in that it could dictate the state of affirmative action for the rest of the country, and may well effect private institutions like Oberlin. Oberlin admittedly grants certain admission privileges to various minority applicants but may be forced to change its policies, depending on the Dec. 6 decision.
Oberlin’s admissions office does not have any formal diversity policies in terms of numbers or quotas. There are, instead, “policies in terms of goals and philosophies,” President of the College Nancy Dye said, noting that the admissions office works hard to attract students of color. “We also make admissions decisions on an individual by individual basis. One of the things we look at is diversity. We think diversity has strong educational value for everyone at the College. We do grant preference [in order to have a more diverse student body],” she said.
Dye emphasized the impact that the decision made in upcoming case could potentially have on academic institutions throughout the nation. “If they said that you could not use race as a factor,which we do, and you must be able to demonstrate that you don’t, that would require a fair amount of thought … We think that would be a blow both to diversity and also to educational quality. Educational excellence is enhanced by diversity. It is an integral element in educational excellence,” Dye said, noting that it would be difficult for Oberlin to maintain its current level of diversity among students.
BAMN and the Oberlin Coalition for Affirmative Action are planning to act on Dec. 6. BAMN is gathering signatures of those who support affirmative action through their website, www.bamn.com and also on paper petitions. The Oberlin Coalition for Affirmative Action has gathered funds to bus Oberlin students down to Cincinnati to march in front of the courthouse. Information will be available in the Multicultural Resource Center for people who want to sign up for seat on the bus to Cincinatti.