Until I started going to school at University of Michigan, I never thought I benefited from Affirmative Action. What I realize in the past few years is that the way I've benefited is through the experiences that I have with various people who go to school there. I feel that if Affirmative Action did not exist, the interactions I had with the various students on this campus would not have existed and the stories we've shared have been the things that have taught me the most and have helped me to grow and become the person I want to be.

My name is Avani Kothary I am an Indian American attending school at the University of Michigan

All institutions of higher education would not be diverse but for affirmative action programs. We've seen that in places where there's been a retreat on affirmative action and admissions have plummeted. And what it really does is it reaches out to give opportunities to students who wouldn't know of those opportunities or be able to take part in those opportunities but for the programs. And everybody in an institution, regardless even if they know it or not, benefits from having those different perspectives in their classrooms. I remember, in law school, and this is an example of gender. But, in law school you know, you have a criminal law class with a discussion of rape and the impact that it has on women. If women were not in the room to have a conversation then it would be totally different. Having a conversation about Brown vs. Board of Education, or employment discrimination or anything of that nature, you can't have the same conversation, you can't learn the same depth out of that if you don't have different perspectives there. I think if the Supreme Court decides that diversity is a compelling interest, it is a tremendous victory, starting with the precedent set in Bakke, which acknowledged that diversity plays a factor and should play a factor in admission. It says to schools out there that you can continue to do programs to increase diversity and it leaves a lot of discretion in the hands of universities to be able to continue to do that. I think that depending on, obviously, what the Court says, by limiting the University of Michigan program and saying that that specific program is not appropriate, it leaves a lot of opportunity for schools to fashion other remedies and other programs that can really work to get to diversity by acknowledging that it is a compelling interest.

My name is Diane Gross. I am a woman. I graduated from New York University Law School and I am a civil rights Attorney.

Affirmative action is still necessary because we still don't have equal opportunity in this country. Unfortunately, our schools do not have equal resources and many children, particularly these impoverished inner cities, dont have the same access to quality advanced placement programs, to extracurricular activities, to the many resources that other students have that they need to get when they want to apply for college. I, myself, am an affirmative action baby. I was admitted to Yale under an affirmative action program, which provided me with the opportunity to show my talent and to prove myself. And that's what affirmative action is all about. It's not a handout, it's an opportunity. When I was applying to college over 25 years ago, there weren't very minorities in the Ivy League schools. I attended a blue collar high school where less than ýý of the students went on to any kind of education including vocational college. But I was given the opportunity to show what I could do to prove the leadership that I knew that I had. Yale gave me an enormous opportunity to learn from people from all over the country and all over the world. I think my life would have been very different because it was in college where I was given the opportunity to see, both how people are the same in terms of their shared aspirations and dreams and challenges, but also how they're different because of the cultures that they bring and how each of these different backgrounds has a certain strength. And that when you bring that together, it can be a very beautiful thing. I think the debate over affirmative action is an important one because we as a nation have become increasingly diverse and it's absolutely critical that all of us learn how to work with people who have different backgrounds from ourselves, who learn how to live in neighborhoods with people of different religions, of different races, of different experiences. And that's what's made America the great country that it is today and thats what's going to keep us a great country tomorrow.

I'm Karen Narasaki. I'm Executive Directory of National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium.

I don't think it's difficult to imagine what the University of Michigan would be like without affirmative action. All we have to do is simply go to a library and look at the pictures of old classes. When we look and we veer past white male face after white male face after white male face, we would realize what will occur if affirmative action isn't used to achieve a different class, a different look, a representative look. I grew up in a working class neighborhood in Connecticut where my father was the first black police officer on the police force, where my father was one of the first black state troopers. Affirmative action has been with me and with my family. So when I went to school, I understood that the opportunities that I had were a product of that and even though I was in an area that wasn't the inner city, I knew that in order for my life to be successful and to have opportunities affirmative action had to be there. Affirmative action has really been important to me. At the University of Michigan, as a benefactor, there's offices, a multi-ethnic student affairs office, there's a black student union, there are resources for students of color that I know wouldn't have been there if it weren't for affirmative action. For me it's not a point of contention or anger because I realize that most folks in their own arrogance refuse to see that which is placed in front of them and when I continue to interact with them, hopefully by showing them the glaring contradiction in their views, maybe they'll at least take note. They may not agree with me, but will realize affirmative action did impact their lives.

I am L'Heureux Lewis. I am African-American. I go to University of Michigan

I was fortunate enough to attend Harvard University for college. I attended Stanford University for Law School. And those are two academic institutions that had surprisingly low numbers of African-Americans enrolled in those schools just a generation ago. And if it weren't for affirmative action, people like me who are interested in pursuing higher education like that and were interested in reaching as high as we possibly could, did not have an opportunity like that. In addition to being a recipient of affirmative action and being a part of affirmative action policy I also worked part-time in the admissions office and I saw firsthand that there are a tremendous amount of people who are highly qualified and very motivated and interested in pursuing higher education at a place like Harvard. Far too many people apply to be able to grant admission to all of them and so Harvard takes a very specific look, an individualized look at every application. It involves both a rigorous look at their academic levels, their test scores, but also things that set students apart from each other: who is a special viola player, who is a student from Iowa, who is an African-American student, who comes from a background where they might be the first person from their family to go to college. Those are all things that Harvard considers in their admissions policy and thinks of as very important factors. So race is one of the many factors like this. Taking race as one of many factors in considering admissions to colleges and universities, has been a very positive change in America's admission policies over the last generation or so. I think that it affords students from all walks of life, from all different backgrounds, an opportunity to be in an environment where they see people whose experiences are different from their own, to be able to learn from what those people have to share and to say, and I think that it provides some beneficial cross-racial interaction that really does not take place anywhere else in America. In my view, if the Court upholds the general policy of affirmative action, it will mean that the Court's decision has reinforced the fact that racial integration and diversity are central to the fabric of America and central to what we believe in, in terms of creating fair opportunities for people and I think that's the most important thing to remember.

I am Lia Epperson. I am Assistant Counsel with NAACPLDF.

In a lot of ways, I didn't just come through the school as a product of affirmative action. The community that enabled me came through. Meaning there's statistical studies that show that people of color particularly who benefit from affirmative action programs will go back to those communities at a higher rate, will go back to more impoverished communities or less economically advantaged communities to work there.

My name is Guy Johnson. I'm a Columbian, a Latino. I go to Boalt Hall, University of California Berkeley.

I know people who went to UCLA under affirmative action and have come back to become doctors and are doctors in their community. Other people that I know became lawyers, teachers. Teachers, specifically, teachers are really important to come back to the community to teach within these communities so they can pass their knowledge on. I wouldn't be in the place that I am now without affirmative action. I came in to the University as the last class that benefited from affirmative action in California in 1997. I was encouraged to go to, before I went to the university, to go to community college so that I could brush up on my skills, etc., but I knew I was qualified, so I went ahead and applied and with affirmative action, I was accepted and excelling. So I think it's really important.

My name is Leo Grandison. I'm of African descent and I go to University of California, Santa Cruz.

The debate over affirmative action pulls me in a lot of different directions and a lot of different emotions. As somebody who has personally benefited from affirmative action and sees affirmative action as a way, a proactive step to level the playing field for people of color and women.

I grew up in Los Angeles, California, so for me it definitely has benefited students and people of color and women in the state of California. And post-Proposition 209 and post- Standard Policies 1 & 2, in the University of California system, you have seen a major decline in students of color in important and well known universities like University of California, Berkeley and UCLA. So I think looking at states like California and Texas and Florida and Washington where affirmative action is no longer in place, you definitely can tell why it's needed and how it does benefit people of color and women. I think the debate around affirmative action particularly how people are framing it in terms of diversity, that using race isnt really creating a diverse campus or a diverse nation--it infuriates me. I just think that it's ridiculous not to say that using race in admissions or recruitment and retention is important because racism is a factor in the United States, in higher education, and in employment, so eliminating race is saying that racism doesnt exist; and with hate crimes, racial profiling, it's definitely relevant, you know, we see it every day.

My name is Jo'ie Taylor I'm the President of the United States Student Association I am a graduate of University of Pittsburgh

I think affirmative action as a policy is needed and is necessary because it's a redress and it's a remedy for past wrongs that have happened 50, 100, 300 years ago-not only for African-Americans, but for people of color and women alike. So as I said, it is a redress to redo past wrongs that were done in America's early history. Race-based policies have had a positive impact on most campuses, in my eyes, by adding diversity to the school that wouldn't be there if it wasnt for these race-based policies. I believe that these schools, if they weren't commanded to get these policies, they wouldn't allow these students in and the schools would just be of one ethnicity and of one background. Just so people could have a better learning experience and a better way of looking at things. If the United States Supreme Court upholds the basic underlying principal of affirmative action, I feel it is something that we can work with, something that we can develop and just continue the fight to get it to where we need it to go.

My name is Gloria Reina Bowen II. I am of African American and Columbian descent, and I attend school at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Colleges and universities that use race-conscious admissions have made those universities a better place for everyone to learn-all students, minority students, white students. And they have prepared our future leaders for the military, for the business and for the policymakers in our society. Campuses are definitely richer environments because of the diversity on them today than they were, say 30-40 and 50 years ago. It used to be an all white male learning environment. Now we have women, now we have minorities and that makes it a better place to learn about how to lead our country, which is a diverse environment. If the Supreme Court says that affirmative action is still valid, that race can still be used as a method to select people for admission, but says the University of Michigans program itself doesn't work for the Constitution, what we have is a mixed decision. They got it right as far as we still need to use race. They got it wrong to say that University of Michigan's program wasnt narrow enough. University of Michigan's program was a very narrowly tailored program to really make a diverse student environment. I work for an organization called Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, MALDEF, and we are the national latino civil rights organization. We are involved in the University of Michigan case both in the litigation in the courts, but also on the policy and media side, getting out the message that affirmative action is still needed today to make our society better.

My name is Marisa Demeo. I am a Latina and I went to Princeton University.

I am the son of a migrant farmer and a caring Mexican teacher. My parents emigrated here in 1980. The affirmative action policies that have mostly affected the Latino community, I would say, are those dealing with the recruitment efforts. Getting students from high school to attend universities, to enroll in universities, to stay at universities of their choice, allowing them that access that they would not have otherwise if it weren't for these efforts. Worse case scenario, without affirmative action: I think that I would have either gone directly into the work force to try to contribute something to my family in terms of income, which I think is something very noble, but nontheless, education I think is the better path for all students. Affirmative action benefits everyone. We are all connected. We cannot live in a society of disassociated individuals. We live together, we grow together, we learn together and when everyone comes together and shares their experiences and shares their life we see that we are indeed all connected, that what we do affects each other and this is how we build a society that cares and that can heal and that can love each other. This is the only way that we include everyone and it is when everyone is included that we see that we are tied together.

My name is Luis Torres.
I am a Latino. I go to Georgetown University here in Washington.

As an Indian, affirmative action gave me the ability to learn to expand my knowledge so I could help my community back home. I dont think it would have been possible to go to Harvard without affirmative action. Harvard has a fairly aggressive policy on admitting minority students and even as it was, the American Indian population at Harvard was really small. I think that it benefits everyone to have minorities represented because being a minority and living in different communities and being from different backgrounds gives you a life experience that is different from what other people have had. The majority community in the United States probably doesn't know what goes on on a reservation every day, doesn't know what goes on in an extended family, maybe in a Latino community or knows how people grow up in crowded housing or people grow up on reservations without running water or phones. People don't know that on general or in large and I think that being in places like Harvard or being on universities anywhere gives people the ability to have a lens into those communities through the experiences of their friends and their classmates. It gives them an understanding of how things really are in America. When opponents of affirmative action say that it has no impact I think that they dont realize the value of a diverse community or a diverse background of experiences. I think that they don't realize that even a small change in a disadvantaged community creates a large ripple effect and helps the community at large.

My name is Adam Bailey. I am a member of the Oklahoma Choctaw tribe and I went to Harvard University.

At the University of California, Santa Barbara, the demographics of students of color has remained pretty consistent with the numbers before affirmative action was eliminated. But what has happened system wide at the University of California is that the students of color are being segregated out of flagship schools like UC Berkeley, like UCLA, and into some of the other schools, less popular schools in the University of California system. So what you have is a new form of segregation within higher education implemented by the elimination of affirmative action in California.

My name is Nicholas Centino. I am a Chicano and Asian student at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

To be honest, it's hard to imagine the University of Michigan without affirmative action because so much of my experience there has been centered around the people that I've have met and conversations that I've have had that I know I wouldn't have had without affirmative action and so much of my experience, just in academia, has been about being around people who bring different things to the table. And I can't imagine the University of Michigan, without affirmative action, being as wonderful and productive a community to be a part of. I think though that the first thing that we have to understand about affirmative action at the University of Michigan is that the University of Michigan needs to be responsible and uphold a certain standard of community and a certain environment that acknowledges, understands the history that we came from. And without affirmative action, we're sending the message that we don't understand the history as it has to relate to race that our universities come out of, and that our society comes out of. And so as an academic institution, to be in an academic institution, it's really important for me that their policies reflect an accurate picture of where we've all come from and affirmative action sends a message to the student body that they understand that.

My name is Jackie Bray. I am a white woman who grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey and I currently am at the University of Michigan studying History.