A Logic Puzzle
posted by Gerard Magliocca
Several conclusions can be drawn from the following comparison. Which one do you take away?
1. In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court described the admissions goals of the University of Michigan Law School (and law schools more generally) this way: “Our conclusion that the Law School has a compelling interest in a diverse student body is informed by our view that that attaining a diverse student body is at the heart of the Law School’s educational mission . . . [T]he Law School’s admissions policy promotes ‘cross-racial understanding,’ helps to break down racial stereotypes, and ‘enables [students] to better understand persons of different races.’ These benefits are ‘important and laudable,’ because ‘classroom discussion is livelier, more spirited, and simply more enlightening and interesting’ when the students have ‘the greatest possible variety of backgrounds.’ . . . Numerous studies show that student body diversity promotes learning outcomes, and ‘better prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce and society, and better prepares them as professionals.’
2. . Consideration of diversity in the U.S. News and World Report Rankings: None
April 24, 2009 at 8:20 am
Posted in: Law School (Rankings)
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Responses (8)
jimbino - April 24, 2009 at 9:20 am
Law school diversity is a joke: almost all law students have touchy-feely humanities undergraduate degrees; few have mastered engineering, science or math. This is, unfortunately, why almost none of our many lawyers in the federal executive, legislature or judiciary have shown any understanding of science, including Obama, all of SCOTUS except Breyer, and our Senate and House. We’d get more “diversity,” not to mention common sense, if we barred lawyers from federal office altogether.
Maryland Conservatarian - April 24, 2009 at 10:25 am
“Several conclusions can be drawn from the following comparison. Which one do you take away?”
…that at least in this instance, USN&WR makes more sense than the majority in Grutter?
lawyer - April 24, 2009 at 10:42 am
Grutter offers a noble lie. USNWR offers us grim reality.
Archit Shah - April 24, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Nothing to see here. USNWR isn’t interested in measuring “better learning outcomes.” What else would you expect from a ranking that counts how many volumes are in the school library?
joe` - April 24, 2009 at 12:35 pm
That the USNWR rankings are flawed to the extent that they fail to take into account an important factor in one’s educational experience. (In fact, the rankings are flawed to a much greater extent, as we all know — but no sense in reciting all of their shortcomings here!)
TRE - April 25, 2009 at 11:55 am
Eh, ask me again in 25 years.
TRE - April 25, 2009 at 11:56 am
Eh, ask me again in 19 years.
David Corrigan - May 12, 2009 at 12:42 am
I agree with Archit Shah, the Indian dude from MIT, the US News and World Report is an unreliable source to make any warranted claims about diversity in law school admissions.
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