A 2-page memo appoints a task force to study the new admissions environment created by
Supreme Court rulings in Grutter and Gratz.
The memo raises several questions, mostly concerning its wide distribution. How could a
task force so widely known produce findings so carefully withheld?
For example, the memo
invites participation from the
speaker of the Faculty Senate and the chair of the
Undergrad
Advisory Committee. Yet the Task Force
report seems not to have been publicly introduced
by
either the Speaker or the Advisory Committee Chair
during Nov. 10 deliberations at the Faculty
Senate.
Would the Faculty Senate decision have been affected
by fuller disclosure?
Was the Task Force report
considered by the Undergrad Admissions Committee?
Also,
the last line of the memo suggests a willingness
to “impact in a major way the excellence to which
we
aspire.” So what happened between July 18 and Aug.
29?
Although the Task
Force indeed suggested major changes on Aug. 29, the cover memo also recognizes that the President is
reluctant to agree.
As for the “initial set of documents attached”, I have
received
copies of “confidential” legal advice that I
will be posting soon. The documents were provided
via open records requests.
MoPress 