Michigan policy gains support

DETROIT -- Although a massive East Coast snowstorm forced a change in plans, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman marshaled the troops supporting University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policies Monday via satellite television.\nRetired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen and DaimlerChrysler Corp. were among the newest soldiers joining the university's side, announcing Monday that they were filing briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court.\nGeneral Motors Corp., which filed the first corporate brief supporting the University of Michigan in 2000, also will file a brief with the high court. Ford Motor Co. said through a spokeswoman that, although it supports the university's desire to have a diverse student body, it will not file a legal brief.\nMore than 60 briefs from more than 300 organizations were to be filed with the court, along with the university's own briefs, by midnight Tuesday.\nColeman praised the size and diversity of the University of Michigan's supporters.\n"They represent universities, faculty, more than 13,000 law students, over 60 Fortune 500 corporations, the AFL-CIO, the UAW, the American Bar Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges, dozens of civil rights and religious organizations, 16 states, members of Congress and more than two dozen high-ranking military and civilian defense officials," Coleman said.\nThe court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the two lawsuits filed against the University of Michigan on April 1. Three white students sued in 1997, claiming they were denied admission to the undergraduate and law schools in favor of less-qualified minorities.\nThe high court's ruling, expected by June, could alter college admissions nationwide.\nColeman was scheduled to be the keynote speaker Monday at the American Council on Education's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Afterward, educators, politicians, retired military officers, labor leaders and corporation presidents were set to release legal briefs supporting the university's defense of its race-conscious admissions policies.\nBut the storm that closed Washington's airports and dumped up to 2 feet of snow on the capital sent Coleman scurrying to a television studio at Crisler Arena on the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus, where she addressed the luncheon via satellite. Then, nine spokespersons representing university supporters phoned in from around the country for a teleconference conducted by Coleman.\nCharles Vest, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former University of Michigan provost, spoke on behalf of MIT, Stanford University, DuPont, IBM, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Science and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, which joined together in one brief submitted to the court.\n"The suits brought against U-M do not merely threaten some technical detail in their processes for admitting students. They threaten the quality of education in all of our institutions," Vest said.\nKenneth Frazier, senior vice president for Merck & Co. Inc., said diversity makes stronger companies.\nMerck is one of 64 Fortune 500 companies, including DaimlerChrysler Corp., that signed one of the briefs.\nA brief filed on behalf of 28 former top-ranking military officers and civilians, including Schwarzkopf and Cohen, argues that the military relies on diverse colleges to fill its ranks. While 40 percent of enlisted soldiers are minorities, only 19 percent of officers are minorities. The nation's three military academies use race as a criterion in admissions, according to the brief.\nThe signers asked the court to reaffirm its 1978 Bakke ruling, which allowed the use of race in admissions.\nIn the University of Michigan's briefs, lawyers argue that overturning Bakke would lead to resegregation.\nAlso Monday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she had filed a brief supporting the university on behalf of the state.\nSheldon Steinbach, general counsel for the American Council on Education, which filed a brief representing 40 educational groups, said the number of briefs may overwhelm the high court and obscure the message.\nBut Marvin Krislov, general counsel for the university, said the briefs are well written by top lawyers and "reinforce how significant diversity and the principles in Bakke are for our entire country."\nLast month, President Bush criticized the University of Michigan's policies as quotas. U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson filed a brief on Bush's behalf, bringing the total filings of opposition groups to about 20.