Woman who challenged U-M's admissions policy to lead ballot petition drive

[davidinalameda]

http://www.detnews.com/2004/politics/0401/12/politics-33300.htm

One of the plaintiffs in the University of Michigan affirmative action cases said Monday she would lead an effort to seek a ballot initiative that would ban racial preferences at universities and other public agencies.

Jennifer Gratz, who challenged Michigan's undergraduate admissions policies in a lawsuit, will serve as executive director of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. Gratz, who is white, was a Michigan resident with good grades and other qualifications when she was rejected at the flagship Ann Arbor campus. She since has graduated from another college.

[bluedeminredstate]

1. This woman needs to get over it

She feels ripped off because she didn't get her first choice. How is she so sure a minority took "her" place? Maybe she just didn't cut it. It's never been shown that she didn't get in to Michigan b/c some undeserving minority got in instead.
I'm sick of this whiny "victim of the system." And don't these conservatives just hate it when people play the victim? How long ago did this happen? Quite some time, I believe. College is over and she needs to move on with her life.

:eyes:

[diamond14]

3. Jennifer Gratz had a fairly LOW GPA for U of Michigan...

it must have embarrassed her to have her 'too low' GPA and SAT/ACT scores paraded before the Nation in the courts...

-snips-

Jennifer was denied entrance on her first application to the
U of M School of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA)...the University informed her that a final decision about her admission would be 'delayed'...This delay was based upon the University's decision that although Gratz was 'well qualified', she was 'less competitive than the students who had been admitted upon first review', and denied her admission to LSA. She later was able to get accepted to a less strenuous program at U of M, Dearborn Campus, from which she graduated in the spring of 1999.

She sued along with a student 'Hamacher'
LSA decided that Hammacher's academic credentials were in 'the qualified range, but they were not at the level needed for first review admission'.

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/02pdf/02-516.pdf

These TWO whiners should be ashamed of themselves....typical reTHUGlicans...sue someone if YOU fail...always take the limbaugh approach to personal responsibility: nothing is YOUR fault....it must be the fault of the U of Michigan....


PROUD UNDERGRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN....B.S. in Chemistry, School of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA), 1971....
(and glad that whiners like hamacher and gratz are kept out, because they are destructive to a classroom environment)...

[coolhand27]

4. It doesn't matter if a minority took her place or not.....

The real issue is this: if she were a minority, were her grades good enough to gain admission?? If the answer is yes (and I don't know that it is), then she has a case in my opinion. And maybe she doesn't want the same thing to happen to someone else.

[newyawker99]

7. Hi coolhand27!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[beaconess]

9. That's a bogus issue . . .

The real issue is: if she were a legacy, an athlete, a white student who attended a predominantly black high school, a resident of the all-white Upper Peninsula, or a member of any of the other groups that benefitted from various preferences given by the University of Michigan, would her grades have guaranteed her admission.

If the answer is yes, she should have complained about the University's policy of giving preferences to other students - mostly white - rather than target the handful of minority students she insisted were not entitled to admission over her. After all, given the numbers, it is much more likely that a white student took the space to which she felt her grades entitled her.

But, of course, it's hard to generate much political support for a crusade against white people - it's so much easier to scream "REVERSE DISCRIMINATION!" and accuse black people of snatching away all of the opportunities from downtrodden white folks, who just can't catch a break in America.

[AP]

10. MI has some of the most segreated public schools in America. If she

was black, she probably (and I mean literally there is a high probability) that she would have gone to a crappy school. If the black student went to the schools she went to, that student probably would have had a much better education and a public school with much better resources.

[beaconess]

8. The majority of UM's admissions programs gave preferences to whites

yet she didn't raise a peep about the white students who took a significant number of spots, any of which could have been "her" place. Perhaps that's because she doesn't necessarily feel entitled to always get ahead of other white people in the line, but thinks she has a right to ALWAYS have an advantage over black folks.

Of course, if she had worked harder and gotten better grades and scores, this wouldn't have been a problem. Sure, maybe it's not fair to expect her to work harder than everyone else just to keep up, but, hey, life's not fair, is it?

[Pathwalker]

2. I can't wait for them to show up at my maize & blue house.

I'm willing to bet they're too stupid to get it. I had to promise my hubby to "spoil the page" on the petition by writing something ridiculous on it. I'm open to suggestions.

[dfong63]

5. unfortunately,

racism is still rampant in American society. black folks face discrimination both subtle and overt in the areas of housing, education, health care, employment, voting rights; plus a million other little ways that they are not treated as fully equal. affirmative action is one of the few ways to mitigate the disadvantages they suffer. the opponents of AA know very well that blacks still labor under tremendous disadvantages in society, yet somehow their outrage is limited to cases where whites are disadvantaged, no matter in how small the degree.

the anti-AA folks look with envy upon the tiny "privileges" bestowed upon blacks... well i wonder how many of them would be willing to take the whole package - to BECOME black. after all, if it's so advantageous to be black, then why wouldn't THEY want to be black themselves? embrace both the pluses and the minuses of being black. what's that, no takers? what a surprise.

the anti-AA folks want to retain all the privileges of being white, while taking away this minuscule preference that is given to blacks.

disgusting and hypocritical.

[beaconess]

11. Great post!

The very fact that this plaintiff believed she had a right to object to this small number of black students demonstrates why affirmative action is still necessary. She didn't question the fitness of the numerous white students with lower grades and scores who got in ahead of her as a result of various preference. She only questioned why the black students were there, as if white folks had every right to "jump the line" but God forbid any black person get there ahead of her.

The sense of racial superiority and entitlement embodied in that attitude no doubt infects many people in admissions and employment decisionmaking positions. As long as such attitudes are still present in our sociey, we will have to take affirmative steps to ensure that minorities are given every opportunity to be fairly considered.

[SoCalDem]

6. Get used to it, guys...

Repubes NEVER EVER GIVE UP.. Even when they have been told by the supreme court, they just go back to the drawing boards and figure a new angle..

Once they get an idea lodged in the creases of those tiny little brains, it NEVER goes away..

She did not go on to become a fry-cook at a Denny's.. She became a lawyer, and has now become famous because of her tirade.. The simple fact that a person "less worthy than her" would get a spot at the law school SHE wanted, is just too much for her to accept..

If you ever see this wooman, DO NOT "steal her parking place"...