American Civil Rights Institute

From Preferences to Preparation:
Ward Connerly and the American Civil Rights Institute Reinforce the Need for Preparation in Higher Education

Thirty-three prominent individuals joined Ward Connerly and the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) in an advertisement in this week’s Chronicle for Higher Education titled, From Preferences to Preparation. The advertisement reminds the public that race preferences are living on borrowed time. And, according to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s 2003 opinion in Gratz and Grutter, race preferences should no longer be necessary in less than 20 years. Beyond that, the American people are growing exceedingly troubled by the idea of discriminating against one in order to prefer another based on skin color. As ACRI continues to educate the public about the harms of race preferences, we are also taking the necessary steps to advocate for new programs to be introduced to guarantee that all students have an equal chance to compete. For instance, students who come from schools that do not offer honors and AP courses, but get good grades and take school seriously have no way of earning above a 4.0 and they deserve a way to compete with kids who are taking AP classes and earning GPAs above a 4.0.

Ward Connerly stated, “I asked others to join me in signing on to this advertisement because I think it is important that universities and public officials shift their focus from offering preferential treatment in order to attend college, to guaranteeing that all of our young people, regardless of skin color or socioeconomic background are afforded the necessary resources in order to be prepared to attend college and become productive members of society.” He continued, “I am not advocating for a sort of ‘misery-index’ similar to what is happening in California, but I am advocating that we need a way to make sure that those who are attending underperforming schools or who grow up without all of the advantages are guaranteed an equal opportunity to compete, based on their merit, accomplishments, and experiences.”

Although there wasn’t space in the advertisement, Connerly also added, “While there is a profound difference between race preferences and legacy preferences, the latter should also be eliminated and I call on all public universities to take the steps necessary to do so. The fact that your granddaddy went to Berkeley should not give you any entitlement for extra consideration, because that is not merit.”

ACRI, a national non-profit organization, was formed to educate the American public, press and elected officials about the problems with racial and gender preferences in federal, state and local government programs.