January 17, 2003

Rice: Race Can Be Factor In College Admissions

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice announced yesterday that she believes race can be used as a factor in college admissions, going much further than President Bush has on a central question in his affirmative action policy.

Rice issued a statement saying that she supports the president's decision to challenge race-conscious admissions as administered by the University of Michigan and that race-neutral means are preferable. But she said there are occasions when "it is appropriate to use race as one factor among others in achieving a diverse student body."

Bush stopped short of that view in briefs the administration filed Thursday night asking the Supreme Court to overturn an admissions system at the university that gives preferences to minorities. The administration, which limited its legal briefs to the case before the court and made no broad statements about affirmative action, said Michigan officials "cannot justify the express consideration of race in their admissions policy."

Rice's announcement was an unusual case of a member of Bush's inner circle taking a different public stand on a major issue. In a sign of the sensitivity of the issue and her close relationship with Bush, aides reported that the statement was made with his blessing.

The Bush Administration isn't a dictatorship (thank you!) and President Bush quite clearly respects Dr. Rice's experience and expertise as a person of color, a woman and a university official as well as her expertise and qualifications as a Cabinet member and a personal friend.
Thanks for making your opinions on this clear, Condi! It takes guts to stand up for your views no matter who one's boss may be and it's good to see that each fine member of the Bush Cabinet isn't marching in lockstep but was chosen and is appreciated and listened to for their important individual contributions!

You know, I could be wrong about this, but for the first time in our history, we have people of color like Dr. Rice and Colin Powell (who has also given his opinion of the U of Mich. case) in positions of power who can affect and inject their valuable input into policy making about racial issues.
We're making progress, America, but as Dr. Rice points out also, we're not done yet!
[Hat tip to Carl Heppenstall for the Heads Up on this development!]