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WELLESLEY, Mass. - In a statement today, Wellesley College
President Diana Chapman Walsh praised the Supreme Court's
decision upholding affirmative action in college and university
admissions.
The full text of Walsh's statement is below.
"I welcome and applaud today's decision by the United
States Supreme Court, validating the importance of diversity
as an intellectual resource in institutions of higher learning.
This decision solidifies a value articulated by Justice
Powell in the Bakke decision 25 years ago. Today's ruling
is a victory for all colleges and universities because it
upholds their freedom to craft admissions policies and practices
to achieve their institutional goals.
Last January, Wellesley's Board of Trustees unanimously
reaffirmed its commitment to diversity and its support of
the College's admissions process in a resolution stating
that 'the diversity of the student body is an essential
aspect of a Wellesley education and contributes significantly
to the fulfillment of the College's mission of providing
an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make
a difference in the world. The Board understands a diversity
of viewpoints to be a necessary precondition for educational
vitality and sees identity and experience, including racial
and ethnic background, as among the important sources of
the viewpoint diversity that enhances learning in a community
of inquiry.'
The Supreme Court ruled unequivocally today that the government
has a compelling interest in promoting the educational benefits
that result from racial and ethnic diversity on college
campuses. It upheld the admissions practices of the University
of Michigan Law School in which race is considered as one
factor in a process which considers each application on
its individual merits. This is the approach that Wellesley
College practices, following the Baake decision, which has
now been formally re-confirmed by the highest court of the
land.
At Wellesley, as our trustees stated in their resolution,
'our admissions process is designed to produce an incoming
class of students who are highly intelligent, accomplished,
and diverse by carefully evaluating each applicant individually
based on her academic and personal promise. Included in
this assessment is consideration of a whole range of aptitudes,
accomplishments, and interests (both intellectual and extra-curricular)
and contributions the applicant will likely make in a diverse
and demanding community in which knowledge is acquired as
part of the life-long process of intellectual exploration,
moral engagement, and social responsibility.'
It is a great relief that the U.S. Supreme Court voted
today to uphold these crucial principles."
Wellesley College is a prominent liberal arts college and
has been a leader in the education of women for more than
125 years. The College's 500-acre campus near Boston is
home to about 2,300 undergraduate students.
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