The lowdown on higher education blog 4/7/08
UT sued for considering race in admissions

The University of Texas is violating the Constitution and civil rights laws by considering race and ethnicity in deciding whether to admit students, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Austin today.

The plaintiff, Abigail Noel Fisher, 18, a student at Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land, applied to UT and received a rejection letter last month. She ranked in the top 12 percent of her class.

UT is required under state law to accept any student from Texas in the top 10 percent. The university considers race and ethnicity, among other factors, in deciding whether to admit other students. Fisher is white.

"But for her race and ethnicity, it is our belief she would have been admitted to the University of Texas," said Edward Blum, director of the Project on Fair Representation, a legal-defense group that fights the use of race and ethnicity in public policy.