Illustration by Adam Niklewicz

ith this summer's qualified affirming of affirmative action, the Supreme Court capped a quarter-century of legal opinions. Back in 1978, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the court found that a quota system for medical-school candidates was unconstitutional. But it endorsed the idea of considering race among other factors in college admissions.

In its June rulings--on two cases arising from the University of Michigan, Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger--the court essentially reaffirmed the principles of Bakke. Race could be used in a "flexible, non-mechanical way," as part of "a highly individualized, holistic review of each applicant's file, giving serious consideration to all the ways an applicant might contribute to a diverse educational environment." The court struck down procedures used by Michigan admissions officials in evaluating prospective undergraduates; the majority of justices saw awarding bonus points to members of certain minority groups as putting undue emphasis on race. At the same time, the court narrowly upheld the Michigan law school's race-sensitive, but less formulaic, admissions policies. In a 5-4 vote, it found that the law school had a compelling interest in enrolling a racially and ethnically diverse student body.

Duke's own commitment to a racially and ethnically diverse student body was unequivocally affirmed in the spring of 1988, when the board of trustees approved a statement of Policy and Criteria for Undergraduate Admissions. The statement embraced the concept of "a student body that is diverse not only in academic and personal interests and achievement but also in more general ways: racial, ethnic, cultural, economic, and geographical." It went on to say, "Special consideration may be given to minority candidates. There is a strong commitment to provide educational opportunities for black students and to increase further the diversity of the student body by having substantial representation of Hispanic, Asian, and Native-American students." Other categories of special interest were mentioned--including children of alumni, North Carolina residents, and athletes. That remains the university's guiding policy.

" We give the same emphasis on how students might contribute to the educational aims of the university to students of color as we do all other students," says Christoph Guttentag, director of undergraduate admissions. "We look at not only their academic and extracurricular accomplishments, but we think of diversity in terms of backgrounds, values, experiences, and interests. In that way we constantly think of what students will be bringing to--and taking from--the university community, not simply what they may check in a box indicating their race."

Officially, Duke greeted the recent Supreme Court rulings with praise--joining in the huge sigh of relief throughout higher education. "Our admissions policies reflect the principle that the Supreme Court has reaffirmed, namely that student diversity is an essential component of higher education's quality," said President Nannerl O. Keohane. James Coleman, a professor and senior associate dean for academic affairs at the law school, called the rulings "a very definitive and decisive victory for affirmative action." Coleman, who was the head of a working group that prepared the amicus curiae, or friend-of-the-court, brief for the American Bar Association in the Michigan law school case, said, "In deciding that a diverse student body was a compelling state interest, the court was persuaded that the benefits of such diversity 'are substantial.' "

But the responses in the unofficial arena, among a selection of Duke students, were less clear-cut. When seven undergraduates came together to talk a couple of weeks after the Supreme Court action, their comments suggested enduring ambivalence over affirmative action--and continuing challenges on a campus where the emphasis on diversity is a relatively recent phenomenon.

"I support [affirmative action], because I believe in its necessity. But I don't much care for it, because there is that stigma attached." --McKinley Melton, senior "Not discounting the obvious racial inequality in America, it is clear that even some white people are disadvantaged in society." --Jonathan Bigelow, junior

Photos:Les Todd

Affirmative action isn't discussed much across racial lines, the students agreed. "It's kind of a touchy issue," as sophomore Nick Shungu put it. Shungu's mother is white, and his father is black. "The last time I remember having this discussion in mixed-race company was my freshman year in the dorm," recalled McKinley Melton, a senior, who is black. "It was two black people and two white people. What I think struck me most was that people from both sides were coming at the issue in ignorance. Like, they didn't exactly know what affirmative action was, but they had been taught to support it or to be against it, regardless of knowing all the facts."

When it is a topic of conversation on campus, affirmative action doesn't seem to have particularly negative connotations, according to the white students in the discussion. "I actually notice little resentment on this campus," said senior Devon MacWilliam. "As a white student, I just wish that I knew more minority students, not just their name and home state, but honestly reaped the benefits of a diverse community. Until we have more interaction on this campus, the defense upon which the Supreme Court decision depends isn't realized."

" I have not observed any explicit resentment from white students on campus," said Jonathan Bigelow, a junior, who is white. "And Duke students probably have little to gripe about from a personal perspective, since we all were admitted."

In an essay in a February 2003 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, William Bowen and Neil Rudenstine, former presidents of Princeton and Harvard, respectively, wrote that "it is morally wrong" to ignore a race-based history. They observed that "racial classifications were used in this country for more than 300 years in the most odious ways to deprive people of their basic rights."

None of the students disputed the resonance of a racist past in the present. "I don't think affirmative action is the best type of system," said Alex Baranpuria, a sophomore, whose parents settled in the United States from India. "But I think it's something that is still necessary in our society, where race is a big issue. We aren't a color-blind society. The first thing we notice is a person's color. And that is something that you just can't take away, at least not today."

" Affirmative action is not something that I really count myself for or against," said Bigelow. "It's something that perplexes me. Part of that is because I don't come from a community that is particularly white or black, so I've never identified myself with any race." That community is Lumberton, North Carolina, which, Bigelow said, is equal parts white, black, and Native American.

One of the novelties of the court's recent position was what might be called the pipeline argument. That's the idea that elite universities feed into society's institutions of power and influence, and so those elite universities should boast a conspicuous minority population. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote, "In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the American citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity." Bigelow called that line of reasoning "intuitive." He added, "I think that's why affirmative action is such an issue. For many, college admission is the stepping stone to a leadership position."

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas brought up the stigma that, as he sees it, necessarily accompanies affirmative action. He said he would contest the notion that "discrimination benefits those admitted as a result of it." Melton said he doesn't fully contest the Thomas view. "I'm personally not a big fan of affirmative action. I don't really like it. I mean, I support it, because I believe in its necessity. But I don't much care for it, because there is that stigma attached. There is that sense that if you are African American, if you are Hispanic, if you come from a certain background, the only way you could get into college is through affirmative action."

Melton said that, arriving at Duke, he was quick to immerse himself in the black community, in part because of a sense of having been misunderstood--if not demeaned--by whites whom he had considered friends and mentors. "In high school, all my friends were white; all my teachers were white. Then, in my senior year, college admissions started rolling around, and scholarships started coming in. And that was when I 'learned' that I got into college because of affirmative action, because I was black; it had nothing to do with my class rank, grade-point average, SAT scores. I had people whom I considered to be close friends who were telling me, 'Well, you know if I were black, I'd have gotten into those schools, I'd have gotten those scholarships.' I had a teacher say that I was lucky, because I filled a void that these schools were looking to fill."

Sophomore Robert Winterode, a Latino, probably wouldn't be considered lucky in all of his life's circumstances. But while growing up in public housing and homeless shelters, he was an educational achiever. In an article in his hometown newspaper, the San Antonio Express-News, his former principal said, "He's been able to take the challenges and the obstacles that have been placed before him and turn them into stepping stones of success." His high school was close to 100-percent Latino. "I guess my high school could be a case study for a bad, minority, public high school that you find so often in the U.S.," said Winterode. "The SAT average was 742, and there was a huge dropout rate. Most kids didn't go to college. I was the only one in something like four years who went out of state for college."