|
Michigan law school is allowed to continue using affirmative action
A federal circuit court granted the University of Michigan law school permission to continue using affirmative action in admissions pending an appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the practice.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that the law school’s consideration of race in admissions unconstitutionally discriminates against white applicants. He had issued an injunction calling for an immediate end to the law school’s race-conscious admissions practices.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit overruled the judge’s decision April 5 and held that the law school should be allowed to retain its current admissions policies until the case is resolved.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is preparing to hear UGA’s appeal of a ruling that the use of race as a factor in undergraduate admissions is not a compelling interest.
African Studies program receives grant
UGA’s African Studies program has received a two-year grant in the amount of $160,000 from the U.S. Department of Education to strengthen its multi-disciplinary focus in undergraduate African studies. This is the second grant to the unit from the DOE—a $223,000 grant was received in 2000 to develop teaching materials in Swahili for use on the Internet.
The latest grant provides funds for developing new courses, underwriting visiting scholars and enhancing the teaching of African languages currently offered by the program. Those languages are Swahili, which began in 1988; Yoruba, in 1996; and Zulu, in 1998.
The grant will help create a course in business Swahili, according to Lioba Moshi, director of UGA’s African Studies Program.
“We hope that this new course offering will attract students from the Terry College of Business and also from agricultural and applied economics. Business Swahili will also be one of the courses offered during our Maymester program in Tanzania using soft-immersion principles,” she says. “This grant could not have come at a better time, as African Studies continues to grow and increase its involvement in partnership activities in Africa.”
Students win Goldwater Scholarships
All four students at UGA competing for Barry M. Goldwater scholarships have been successful in their efforts. This is the second time in the last five years that all UGA candidates were awarded the scholarships. This year’s Goldwater scholars from UGA are Beth Orcutt, Paul Pollack, Steven Smith and Lakshmi Swamy.
“The accomplishments of these four students bring great credit to the University of Georgia and its growing national academic reputation. I am very proud of them,” says Jere Morehead, associate provost and director of the Honors and Foundation Fellows programs.
The Goldwater Scholarship Program was created to encourage students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering, and to foster excellence in those fields. Four-year institutions can nominate up to four students who are sophomores or juniors. Approximately 300 scholarships are awarded each year. Each scholarship covers tuition, fees, books and room and board, up to $7,500 annually. The program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Barry M. Goldwater, who served for 30 years in the U.S. Senate.
“In the past few years universities around the country have increased their efforts to garner national awards, and the fact that all four of our candidates were selected for this prestigious scholarship is a tribute to the truly excellent education that our students receive here at the University of Georgia,” says Else Jorgensen, educational programs and scholarship coordinator for UGA’s Honors Program. Karl Espelie, professor of entomology, served as faculty coordinator for the Goldwater scholarship committee. |
|
