| The University of Michigan | |
| News and Information Services News Release | 412 Maynard Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1399 |
October 14, 1997 President Bollinger's response to lawsuit regarding admissions In response to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Oct. 14, the University of Michigan today released the following statement by U-M President Lee C. Bollinger: "Since its founding, the University of Michigan has been committed to providing an education to the widest range of students. Throughout our history we have included students from diverse geographical, racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. "For almost 200 years, public universities have unlocked the doors to social and economic opportunity to students from many different backgrounds, and we believe it is absolutely essential that they continue to do so. Our mission and core expertise is to create the best educational environment we can. We do this in part through a diverse faculty and student body. "Our admissions policies are linked to these core values, especially our chief value: academic excellence. "We are supported in this judgment by virtually all of America's leading universities, and we believe that our admissions policies are fully consistent with existing legal principles. "We use a variety of factors to determine a student's admissibility to the University. These include, among others: "Each of these factors can influence a student's admissibility because they are considered to be characteristics that contribute to the quality of the University and the diversity of the student body. No one factor is determinative; our approach utilizes both objective and subjective factors, treating the admission of students as both an art and a science. "The University has retained Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, a highly regarded international law firm, to represent it in this lawsuit." Contact: Julie Peterson | |