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Pros and cons of affirmative action debated

Oct. 17, 2006

KALAMAZOO--The pros and cons of an amendment to the Michigan constitution that would ban discrimination and affirmative action will be debated at a forum Thursday, Oct. 19, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Room 242 of the Bernhard Center at Western Michigan University.

The forum is sponsored by the WMU Center for the Study of Ethics in Society and is free and open to the public. The event will feature Dr. Daniel Lipson, assistant professor of political science at Kalamazoo College, and Dr. Arthur White, professor of mathematics at WMU. Lipson is an active member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and serves on the board of its southwestern branch, while White is currently the Kalamazoo county coordinator for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.

Michigan voters on Nov. 7 will decide the fate of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which would ban both discrimination and affirmative action programs that give consideration to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes. Public institutions affected by the proposal include state government, county and municipal governments, public colleges and universities, community colleges and public school districts.

Lipson received his bachelor's degree from Cornell University, and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His recent work on the battle over affirmative action in university admissions will be published in a forthcoming edition of Law & Social Inquiry in 2007.

A faculty member since 1969, White earned his undergraduate degree from Oberlin College and his master's and doctoral degrees at Michigan State University. He has received various awards both for teaching and for research and has enjoyed four sabbatical years in England, where he is a member of Wolfson College, Oxford University. He is a member of the National Association of Scholars and is on the executive board of the Michigan Association of Scholars.

Media contact: Mark Schwerin, (269) 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu

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