Welcome to the Wednesday, May 30th edition of the Weekly Dose of Higher Education for BreakDrink.com; I’m Shawn Brackett bringing you this week’s news.
“US Supreme Court to reconsider race-conscious admissions; several Asian-American groups urge court to reject”
http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-eeo.htm (Executive Order 11246)
Several Asian-American organizations have filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court arguing that race-conscious admissions policies unfairly discriminate against applicants of Asian descent. The brief stems from a case at the University of Texas at Austin in which an applicant of Anglo descent was denied admission. However, the issue of factoring in race or ethnic origin in higher education policies has undergone significant discussion since Executive Order 11246 (which was issued in 1965) required government institutions and agencies to take “affirmative action” to ensure equal opportunity. The Asian-American organizations that filed the brief expressed concerns that applicants of Asian descent have to work much harder to gain admission to an institution than any other racial group.
“UN calls upon academic leaders to sign higher education sustainability declaration”
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120525093416419 (article)
http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&nr=341&type=12&menu=35 (declaration)
Ahead of the Rio Conference on Sustainable Development in June, the United Nations has called upon academic leaders to sign a declaration supporting sustainable practices in higher education. The declaration includes pledges to teach sustainable practices to students, improve the energy and resource use of campuses, share information and research with other institutions and agencies, and support sustainability initiatives in the community. Several institutions have indicated they have or will sign, including the State University of New York system, George Mason University, and Ebonyi State University in Nigeria.
That’s it for today! Have a good week and I’ll see you next week.
