Politics
July 3, 2018 / 8:32 AM / 2 days ago
Trump administration rolls back racial diversity guidelines for colleges
Reuters Staff

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Tuesday rescinded an extensive set of guidelines put in place under President Barack Obama that had called on colleges and universities to consider race as a way of promoting diversity.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the 24 documents many of which gave advice to schools on how to deal with Supreme Court decisions on race and admissions “were unnecessary, outdated, inconsistent with existing law, or otherwise improper.”

It has the effect of bringing the federal government’s position on affirmative action close to that of the George W. Bush administration which held that race could be considered only if a university had no other way of achieving a diverse student class.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled over a series of cases that universities may use affirmative action to help minority applicants get into college. Conservatives have argued such programs can hurt whites and Asian-Americans.

The rules under Obama, a Democrat, were issued by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education. They tell universities and colleges that it is acceptable to use race as a tool to achieve diversity. For example, one of the guidances, “Question and Answers About Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin,” poses the question “Did the Supreme Court change what colleges and universities must do to narrowly tailor their admissions programs to meet the compelling interest in diversity?” It answers, “No.”

The Republican Trump administration’s move is being viewed by Democrats and liberals as a way to weaken affirmative action.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-e...a-idUSKBN1JT1HO