Maine media quote Bates officials for stories on Supreme Court affirmative action case

The Portland Press Herald and Maine Public Broadcasting check in with Bates officials for their reactions to the affirmative action case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, now being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bates, Bowdoin and Colby colleges have all signed a brief supporting the University of Texas and the use of race-conscious admissions.

“This particular case can have repercussions about how we think about faculty and staff diversity and student diversity,” Heather Lindkvist, special assistant to the president for diversity and inclusion and member of the anthropology faculty, tells thePress Herald.

Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Leigh Weisenburger tells Maine Public Broadcasting that because “we were founded by abolitionists…one of our number one goals since the very start, and we’re talking back to 1855 here, has been to be open and accessible to all.”

Using race as one part of the admission equation “is not just for the good of our own institutions,” she said, but to ensure that “we are creating a truly global classroom setting, a truly global community, so that as we prepare our students to be those leaders and go out into the world, that we can promise them, promise their families, that they’ve truly had a diversified learning environment.”

• View story from the Portland Press Herald, Oct. 9, 2012.
• View story from Maine Public Broadcasting, Oct. 8, 2012.