President Bollinger: Columbia Will Defend Diversity in Education 'to the End'

Columbia will continue with its policy of affirmative action, despite a directive by the Trump administration that universities should apply race-neutral methods, University President Lee C. Bollinger said.

“The University has been committed to building a diverse student body, including racial and ethnic diversity, for several decades,” said Bollinger in an interview with the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.  “Columbia is part of a higher education effort to make sure that there is fairness and greater educational value in the composition of the student body. So this the longstanding commitment that is rooted in a philosophy of education and in the roles of universities in this society.”

On July 3rd, 2018, the Department of Education and Department of Justice issued a joint statement rescinding Obama-era guidance promoting racial diversity in higher education, calling for a race-neutral stance.

In his view, recent statements by the Trump administration regarding affirmative action in admissions will have little impact on universities unless they are followed by “more concrete actions,” or litigation. 

But even litigation will not discourage Columbia, Bollinger affirmed. “We will defend this to the end.”

When he was president of the University of Michigan, Bollinger led the school’s historic litigation in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Gratz v. Bollinger (2003), U.S. Supreme Court decisions that upheld and clarified the importance of diversity as a compelling justification for affirmative action in higher education.

He speaks and writes frequently about the value of racial, cultural, and socioeconomic diversity to American society through opinion columns, media interviews, and public appearances around the country.

Columbia remains one of the most diverse universities among its peer institutions and has seen the number of applicants to Columbia College and the selectivity of admissions at the school reach record levels. At the undergraduate schools Columbia College and Columbia Engineering, the Class of 2021 is 14% African American, 14% Latino, 29% Asian American. 17% of students are first generation, and 16% receive Pell Grants. They come from all 50 states and 76 countries. 

Other universities have defended their admissions policy in the wake of the Trump administration guidance. Harvard said that the university “will continue to vigorously defend its right, and that of all colleges and universities, to consider race as one factor among many in college admissions, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court for more than 40 years." 

At the University of Pennsylvania, officials reaffirmed their school's commitment. "An inclusive student body greatly enhances the educational experience for all students and better prepares them to succeed in an increasingly complex world," a university spokesperson wrote. "We believe our current policies and practices are fully within Supreme Court guidelines.”