Barnard College President Judith Shapiro Statement on Affirmative Action

The Bush administration regrettably has taken the position that the prevailing principles of affirmative action in university and college admissions should be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The White House has chosen to oppose one of the most powerful strategies that institutions of higher education have at their disposal in attempting to realize the goals of equality and justice for all.

Affirmative action has served to advance both educational and societal goals. This was demonstrated clearly in The Shape of the River, the landmark 1998 book by former Harvard President Derek Bok and former Princeton President William Bowen. Presidents Bok and Bowen showed that minority graduates had achieved a remarkable level of success at selective institutions where admission policies operated to increase their numbers over the last decades. Their findings, in the most comprehensive study of its kind, were particularly significant because they showed that race-sensitive admissions policies not only benefit individual students themselves but also have wider social benefits. For example, the study showed a strikingly high rate of community involvement by these minority graduates, both men and women, thus providing leadership in their communities and in the nation at large.

The freedom to pursue diversity is especially worthy of protection because diversity benefits all students. Since its founding more than 100 years ago, Barnard has been an ever-widening door of opportunity for students of all backgrounds. We intend to keep that door open, and it is my deepest hope that the principle of affirmative action will continue to make this opportunity available throughout our country.

January 17, 2003

Contact: Suzanne Trimel, Barnard Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-7583, strimel@barnard.edu