Unjudged submissions are thoughts inspired by this year's prompt from writers who are not eligible to compete for the prize. All are invited to share something.
The following was submitted by my friend Franklin Lee. He admits to "cheating" by sending something he wrote a few years ago, but I welcomed the opportunity to post it because of how relevant it is. With his permission, I've excerpted one paragraph of his longer piece, which originally ran in 2003 in The Maryland Daily Record. At that time, the Supreme Court was reviewing the University of Michigan's use of affirmative action in admissions.
I am personally aware of the lingering “chilling effect” that our segregationist past has had on the willingness of African American students to apply to some of our institutions of higher learning. During mid-1970s when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago, I met a number of African American alumni from my hometown of Baltimore who had obtained graduate degrees from the U of C. These individuals had originally sought to attend graduate school in their home state at the University of Maryland. However, at the time they sought to apply to that school, African Americans were not permitted to attend graduate school at Maryland, and the State of Maryland actually paid full transportation and tuition costs for African American graduate students to attend the University of Chicago, rather than to have to integrate the University of Maryland. By 1977, when I applied for admission to the University of Maryland School of Law, I was told by several African American judges and lawyers who were alumni of that school, and also by students who were then matriculating through that school, that a former Dean of the Law School was on record as having said that he did not believe that black students belonged in law school. He steadfastly refused to call on black law students in class and routinely graded them with “D”s and “F”s on their exams. Many of these black students went on to have long and distinguished careers as successful attorneys and respected jurists. However, by the time I had applied to the University of Maryland School of Law, the school had adopted an aggressive affirmative action program to recruit qualified African American students, to make personal calls to encourage their acceptance of offers of admission, and to provide ample financial aid to facilitate their attendance. Many African American students received financial aid checks that were labeled “desegregation grants.” These efforts were a strong indication that the University of Maryland was sincere in its desire to change its ways. I certainly felt that I was welcome. I went on to enroll and graduate from the University of Maryland School of Law, and I have been successfully practicing antitrust and civil rights law for the last 22 years. Affirmative action gave me the chance to reach my full potential. Without it, I might never have attended the University of Maryland School of Law.
The following was submitted by my friend Franklin Lee. He admits to "cheating" by sending something he wrote a few years ago, but I welcomed the opportunity to post it because of how relevant it is. With his permission, I've excerpted one paragraph of his longer piece, which originally ran in 2003 in The Maryland Daily Record. At that time, the Supreme Court was reviewing the University of Michigan's use of affirmative action in admissions.
I am personally aware of the lingering “chilling effect” that our segregationist past has had on the willingness of African American students to apply to some of our institutions of higher learning. During mid-1970s when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago, I met a number of African American alumni from my hometown of Baltimore who had obtained graduate degrees from the U of C. These individuals had originally sought to attend graduate school in their home state at the University of Maryland. However, at the time they sought to apply to that school, African Americans were not permitted to attend graduate school at Maryland, and the State of Maryland actually paid full transportation and tuition costs for African American graduate students to attend the University of Chicago, rather than to have to integrate the University of Maryland. By 1977, when I applied for admission to the University of Maryland School of Law, I was told by several African American judges and lawyers who were alumni of that school, and also by students who were then matriculating through that school, that a former Dean of the Law School was on record as having said that he did not believe that black students belonged in law school. He steadfastly refused to call on black law students in class and routinely graded them with “D”s and “F”s on their exams. Many of these black students went on to have long and distinguished careers as successful attorneys and respected jurists. However, by the time I had applied to the University of Maryland School of Law, the school had adopted an aggressive affirmative action program to recruit qualified African American students, to make personal calls to encourage their acceptance of offers of admission, and to provide ample financial aid to facilitate their attendance. Many African American students received financial aid checks that were labeled “desegregation grants.” These efforts were a strong indication that the University of Maryland was sincere in its desire to change its ways. I certainly felt that I was welcome. I went on to enroll and graduate from the University of Maryland School of Law, and I have been successfully practicing antitrust and civil rights law for the last 22 years. Affirmative action gave me the chance to reach my full potential. Without it, I might never have attended the University of Maryland School of Law.
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