It seems last June's Supreme Court decision on affirmative action has everyone confused. To what extent can institutions consider race in admissions decisions? Well, we know they can't employ quotas, but they can include race as one of many determining factors. Both sides of the debate claimed some modicum of victory. And as a result, colleges and universities continue to make their own rules.

At Amherst and other elite colleges, officials openly court minority students who score well on the SAT and boast good grades. These students attend special summer sessions, receive promises of financial aid, and even get flown—at the college's expense—to campus for interviews. To no surprise, conservative groups are up in arms, suggesting that by targeting minorities and excluding whites, such practices are unconstitutional. Colleges like Amherst claim this preferential treatment doesn't extend to admissions decisions, and I believe them (wink).

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, legislators in Washington State want to introduce a bill that will allow colleges to more openly consider race in admissions decisions. Is that because minority enrollments have dropped precipitously in Washington in recent years? No. It's because officials want a more "vibrant and challenging learning environment in higher education."

But as an attorney representing a parent group fighting the bill puts it, "As soon as we get away from thinking about people in terms of their race or color, the better off our society will be." Right on.

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