Satairia Hood was only in the sixth grade when she was given the opportunity of a lifetime.
Hood, a sophomore in sociology, was nominated by her elementary school teachers as a candidate for the Young Scholars program — a program through the Department of Minority Affairs at Ohio State which offers scholarships to low-income minorities who show great academic potential.
Determined to succeed, Hood had to maintain a 3.0 grade point average throughout high school to keep her scholarship and attend OSU. With two pending Supreme Court cases questioning the merits of affirmative action, Hood is worried other students may not be given the same opportunity.
“If affirmative action were not in place, Ohio State wouldn’t be under any pressure to make sure they are giving equal opportunities to everyone — and that goes for every other college too,” she said. “Affirmative action has provided opportunities for me to succeed without being held back because of my skin or my gender.”
In the two pending cases, Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, the plaintiffs claim they were unfairly denied acceptance to University of Michigan’s Law School because of “race-based” admission practices. A decision in the plaintiff’s favor could overturn the judgment of the Supreme Court in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which states race can be used as a factor in the admissions process.
The effect the court’s decision will have on Ohio State is to be determined by the language of the judgment. A narrow judgment by the court against Bakke could solely affect the University of Michigan, while a broad judgment could affect other institutions like OSU.
Charles Hancock, associate dean for the College of Education and a member of OSU’s Council on Diversity, said OSU is an institution which has thrived on diversity, and a broad decision overturning Bakke could leave OSU with no means to maintain its diverse profile.
“I think we have gotten to the point at Ohio State where we have rich diversity. We have male-female diversity, we have racial diversity, cultural diversity, we have rural-urban-suburban diversity, we have international students interacting with domestic Americans — and I think all of these student profiles help enrich us all,” he said. “If our university decided that, as a part of its diversity profile, it wanted to include all those groups, there would be no way of doing that other than by chance that somebody who is Hispanic or Appalachian American or Native American would apply.”
Hancock said the OSU Council on Diversity — created under the Academic Plan to advocate diversity — has exercised its voice in support of Bakke.
“The biggest thing we have done is to put our own resolution out which says we strongly support Bakke, at least the University of Michigan approach to Bakke,” he said.
Other organizations are letting their voices be heard as well.
Sylvia Tolliver, a senior in political science, is the coordinator of a grass roots organization at OSU called the Coalition for Equal Opportunity in Education. The organization has planned a trip to Washington D.C. on April 1 to participate in a march in support of affirmative action.
“College campuses across the country are mobilizing — University of Cincinnati, Akron — all the big Ohio schools are getting students together to go to D.C., so it will be a rally and a march. The case won’t be decided until June, but showing solidarity, to show how students feel and the nation feels about affirmative action speaks volumes to the Supreme Court,” she said. “Public sentiment is a very persuasive tool to use, and that is what we are hoping to show.”
Guylando Moreno, diversity chairman for Undergraduate Student Government, said USG is a firm supporter of affirmative action, providing the buses for the coalition’s trip to Washington D.C.
Moreno, a recipient of a minority scholarship, said much of the opposition to affirmative action may be a result of misinformation. He encourages students to take the initiative to better understand the issue at hand.
“I think a lot of opponents of affirmative action try to play it off as a white-black issue, when really it extends to every race and every individual — white women are actually the number one benefactors of affirmative action,” he said. “I don’t believe affirmative action is the answer, but it is the best thing we have right now until the playing field is leveled.”
Mac Stewart, vice provost of Minority Affairs and a member of OSU’s Council on Diversity, said he is confident a broad judgment against Bakke will lead to litigation challenging minority scholarships. Pre-collegiate scholarships, like the one Hood received, may be protected, but numerous other minority scholarships are at stake.
He said the office of minority affairs is encouraging students to engage in dialogue to stay informed about the issue.
“What we attempt to do, whenever possible, is encourage dialogue — I am naive enough to believe that through dialogue we may be able to come to a resolution,” he said.
Tolliver agreed student interaction is imperative and said all students should be aware of the benefits of affirmative action.
“Everyone is affected — the students that benefit from affirmative action are affected because they are able to help themselves and contribute to society, but they are also able to give something of themselves — their culture, their background — to another student who happens to think they are not part of affirmative action,” she said. “It has implications for us as a nation in our ability to interact with each other.”
No matter the outcome of the case, Hood said she is happy the university has been standing behind affirmative action.
“I’m excited to graduate and put OSU down on my resume — this is a university that is supportive of its minorities,” she said.
