Regents v. Bakke

Today, in class we had a mock trail where two groups debated as Bakke and Regents University of California. Allan Bakke, a thirty-five-year-old white man, had twice applied for admission to the University of California Medical School. He was rejected both times. The school reserved sixteen places in the entering class of one hundred for minorities, as part of the university's affirmative action program, in an effort to correct unfair minority exclusions from the medical profession. Bakke's qualifications exceeded those of any of the minority students admitted in the two years Bakke's applications were rejected.

Both teams had great arguments, the Bakke team argued that he was more qualified than the minority who were admitted and the admissions should be fair by being color blind. They continued to say it violates equal porction law and if they believed in the goals of the civil rights movement then it is wrong to have a quota and not moving the right direction. They also said that the quota system was forcing diversity which was a crude method that could potentially leading to reverse discrimination.

The Regent team argued that there is a long history of slavery and reconstruction and this quota is to help bring the races together. Also, Bakkee can’t prove he wasn’t admitted based on race there is no clear evidence to show that he was harmed by the law. A diverse school has a better quality and the quota system helps keep the school diverse, creating a “growth mind set.”

This case coined the phrase "diversity" and said that the use of a quota system was unconstitutional and admitted Bakke into the University. However it also decided that race could be used as one factor in the admissions decisions. To think that race is always a factor in everything that we do can really make you realize how much of an issue it still is till this day.