Higher Education and the Challenge of Inclusion

Abstract

With the election of the first president of color, the question of the need for affirmative action to assist racial and ethnic minorities once again has come into the forefront. The irony of Senator Obama defeating Senator Hillary Clinton (a white woman) for the Democratic nomination has been noted by many. Although affirmative action programs in the United States are more commonly seen as focusing on people of color, programs both public and private remain that are targeted toward professions or studies where women are underrepre- sented (such as math, science, and medicine). The electoral success of now President Obama and former Senator Clinton could be viewed as undercutting the argument for affirmative action. Indeed, some of the discussion concerning Mr. Obama posits that Americans may be driving toward a world where race is irrelevant. Such arguments are undercut by data in the 2008 election demonstrating that race and ethnic identity continue to have meaning, and that discrimination has far from disappeared.¹

Marvin Krislov became the fourteenth President of Obcrlin College in 2007, where he is also a professor in the Politics Department. Mr. Krislov served as Vice President and General Counsel at the University of Michigan from 1998 to 2007, where he was also an adjunct professor for the Law School and the Political Science Department. He led the University of Michigan’s legal defense of its admissions policies, resulting in the 2003 Supreme Court decision recognizing the importance of student body diversity.