On Thursday, October 31, ARL joined more than 40 associations in signing an amicus brief (PDF) in support of the University of Texas in its appeal of the ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas. The case challenges the affirmative action admissions policy of the university. This summer, the US Supreme Court held that the Fifth Circuit had not applied the correct level of scrutiny to the policy and sent the case back to the Fifth Circuit for review.
In leading the effort of this amicus brief, the American Council on Education stated, “The Supreme Court held in Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003), and reaffirmed in this case, that higher education institutions have a compelling interest in the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body. That interest can justify the narrowly tailored consideration of race in admissions.”
In August 2012, ARL joined an earlier amicus brief (PDF) filed on behalf of 40 higher education associations in support of the University of Texas policy.
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 research libraries in the US and Canada. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the web at https://www.arl.org/.
