The next twenty-five years: affirmative action in higher education in the United States and South Africa

416 Pages·2010·1.53 MB·English

by  David L. Featherman

The Next Twenty-‹ve Years

The Next Twenty-‹ve Years
Af‹rmative Action in Higher Education in the
United States and South Africa
(cid:2)
edited by
David L.Featherman,Martin Hall,and Marvin Krislov
the university of michigan press
Ann Arbor
Copyright © by the University ofMichigan 2010
All rights reserved
Published in the United States ofAmerica by
The University ofMichigan Press
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
cPrinted on acid-free paper
2013 2012 2011 2010 4 3 2 1
No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form
or by any means,electronic,mechanical,or otherwise,
without the written permission ofthe publisher.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The next twenty-five years :affirmative action in higher education in
the United States and South Africa / edited by David L.
Featherman,Martin Hall,and Marvin Krislov.
p. cm.
Includes index.
isbn978-0-472-11705-5 (cloth :alk.paper) —
isbn978-0-472-03377-5 (pbk.:alk.paper) —
isbn978-0-472-02155-0 (e-book)
1.Education,Higher—United States. 2.Education,Higher—South
Africa. 3.Affirmative action programs—United States.
4.Affirmative action programs—South Africa. I.Featherman,David L.
II.Hall,Martin,1952– III.Krislov,Marvin,1960–
la227.4.n497 2009
379.2'60973—dc22 2009024924
Contents
Preface ix
Foreword,Mary Sue Coleman xiii
Foreword,Njabulo S.Ndebele xxi
Introduction:Twins Born at Different Times?
David L.Featherman 1
PARTI (cid:2)Historical and Legal Context
Introduction to Part I,Marvin Krislov
Af‹rmative Action and the U.S.Black Freedom Struggle
David J.Garrow 35
The Struggle for National Liberation and the Attainment
ofHuman Rights in South Africa
Neville Alexander 50
Af‹rmative Action in Higher Education over the Next
Twenty-‹ve Years:A Need for Study and Action
Sandra Day O’Connor and Stewart J.Schwab 58
From Redress to Empowerment:The New South African
Constitution and Its Implementation
Judith February 74
Social Justice and Postapartheid Higher Education in South Africa
André du Toit 87
Af‹rmative Action and Higher Education in the United States
and South Africa
Nancy Cantor and Jo Thomas 110
PARTII (cid:2)Higher Education in the World:Labor Markets
and Social Mobility
Introduction to Part II,David L.Featherman
Moving on Up? The Politics,Problems,and Prospects of
Universities as Gateways for Social Mobility in South Africa
Jonathan D.Jansen 129
vi (cid:2) contents
Higher Education and the Labor Market in Postapartheid
South Africa
Haroon Bhorat 137
Retrenching Civil Rights:Mass Imprisonment in America
Bruce Western 144
PARTIII (cid:2)The World in Higher Education:
Admissions,Curriculum,and the Classroom
Introduction to Part III,Martin Hall
The Promise and Peril ofthe Texas Uniform Admission Law
Marta Tienda and Teresa A.Sullivan 155
Admissions Policies and Challenges
Nan Yeld 175
Race and Class in the South African Higher-Education Sector:
A Focus on the Undergraduate Experience
Crain Soudien 187
Bene‹ts and Barriers:Racial Dynamics ofthe
Undergraduate Experience
Sylvia Hurtado 196
Diversity,Dialogue,and Democratic Engagement
Patricia Gurin,Biren (Ratnesh) A.Nagda,and
Akua O.Campanella 208
Institutional Culture and Diversity:Engagement and
Dialogue in a South African University
Martin Hall,Dorrian Aiken,and Nazeema Mohamed 218
Who Is “Getting Through”in South Africa? Graduate Output
and the Reconstruction ofthe Formal Curriculum
Ian Scott 229
De‹ning the Problem ofEquity in Teaching Elementary
School Mathematics
Jennifer Lewis and Deborah Loewenberg Ball 244
PARTIV (cid:2)The Next Twenty-‹ve Years
Introduction to Part IV,Martin Hall
Looking Back
Stuart Saunders 259
Contents (cid:2) vii
The First Ten Years:The Role ofPublic Policy in Shaping
Postapartheid Higher Education in South Africa
Naledi Pandor and Nasima Badsha 268
The Role ofPublic Policy in Shaping Higher Education in
the Twenty-‹rst Century:Achieving Diversity,Excellence,
and Equity in the Academy
Richard W.Riley and Judith A.Winston 277
Racial Disparities and the Next Twenty-‹ve Years:
The Continued Need for Af‹rmative Action
Michael S.McPherson and Matthew A.Smith 286
Beyond Equity Committees and Statistics
Elaine Salo 297
Achieving Critical Mass:The Future ofGender and
Higher Education in the United States
Abigail J.Stewart and Danielle LaVaque-Manty 309
Democracy and the Choosing ofElites
Glenn C.Loury 317
A Future Beyond “Race”:Re›ections on Equity in
South African Higher Education
Zimitri Erasmus 334
Conclusions
The Challenge ofthe Next Twenty-‹ve Years
Marvin Krislov 343
Nothing Is Different,but Everything’s Changed
Martin Hall 355
Contributors 371
Index 379

Preface
In 2003,the United States Supreme Court heard two cases in which white
plaintiffs sued the University ofMichigan,arguing that the University’s ad-
missions policies violated the Constitution by considering the race and eth-
nicity of applicants among other factors. These cases raised the issue of
af‹rmative action in university admissions for the ‹rst time at the Supreme
Court level since University of California Regents v.Bakkein 1978.In 1990,
the South African government released Nelson Mandela from prison,
marking a new stage in the country’s transformation.In an effort to over-
come the legacy of apartheid,that country,too,has considered race in de-
termining access to higher education.This procedure in university admis-
sions has not yet been challenged in South Africa’s Constitutional Court.
In Grutter v. Bollinger, a majority of the Supreme Court accepted the
University of Michigan’s argument that student body diversity was a com-
pelling interest under the equal protection clause, and thus justi‹ed the
limited use ofrace-sensitive admissions policies.The Court found that the
law school’s admissions policies, which relied on subjective evaluation,
were holistic and satis‹ed the “narrow tailoring”prong of the law.On the
other hand,in Gratz v.Bollingera majority of the Court rejected the Uni-
versity’s undergraduate admissions process as numbers-driven and mecha-
nistic.The Court thus clari‹ed that race-sensitive admissions policies could
be permissible,but would be carefully scrutinized by the courts.
Writing for the majority in Grutter,Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Con-
nor noted that “race unfortunately still matters.”Yet she stated that “race-
conscious admissions policies must be limited in time.”In her much-dis-
cussed phrasing,Justice O’Connor wrote:
It has been 25 years since Justice Powell ‹rst approved the use ofrace to
further an interest in student body diversity in the context of public
higher education....We expect that 25 years from now,the use ofracial
preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved
today.
Justice O’Connor’s speculation—and expectant hope—about the Ameri-
can future resonated beyond the United States and gave impetus to this
book—speci‹cally to its title and framing question about “the next 25
years.”What justi‹cation can be found for af‹rmative action in American
higher education—and, by inference, in other higher-education systems,