Synopses & Reviews
The essays in this volume represent the work of the leading scholars of affirmative action in higher education, and place the current crisis on campus in its larger context of historical discrimination and the legal battle for educational equity.
After a generation of efforts to reverse the historic exclusion of minorities from their campuses, U.S. colleges and universities are facing a frontal attack on the programs, policies, and commitments born of these efforts. Chilling Admissions documents and examines their struggle to foresee the consequences of abandoning affirmative action in admissions and financial aid, and to devise viable alternatives for promoting and preserving campus diversity.
Review
“This may be the most important book in higher education today. At a time in which affirmative action is under siege, this volume offers the facts--research on the consequences of repealing affirmative action, and urgently needed, workable alternatives for maintaining diversity on campus. It is a must read for anyone who cares about or is responsible for the future of America's colleges and universities.” — Arthur Levine, President, Teachers College, Columbia University
Review
“Chilling Admissions is desperately needed. Its great value is to bring facts into what has become a sterile and abstract ideological debate, fueled by political appeals to those who feel threatened by minority groups. I hope it is widely read.” — Burke Marshall, Professor, Yale Law School, Former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights
Review
“An interesting, timely, and well-informed book on the impact of present efforts to eliminate affirmative action in college and university admissions. It illuminates many complexities that should inform debate on the subject.” — Nathan Glazer, Professor of Education and Social Structure, Emeritus, Harvard University
Review
“Sheds vitally important new light on the effects of affirmative action. Enormously valuable.” — Diana Chapman Walsh, President, Wellesley College
Review
“Chilling Admissions is an important contribution to a debate which often has relied more on rhetoric than reason. It will help elevate justice's side of the argument.” — Julian Bond, Chairman, NAACP
Synopsis
Chilling Admissions takes a close look at affirmative action and how the current state of college financial aid and enrollment mirrors trends in discrimination. This book is an essential read for educators striving for equity in higher education.
About the Author
Gary Orfield is a professor of education, law, political science and urban planning, and codirector of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles.Edward Miller,coeditor of Chilling Admissions, has written widely on urban education and school reform. He is the former editor of the Harvard Education Letter.Christopher Edley, Jr., is Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Codirector of the Harvard Civil Rights Project.