The Politics of Affirmative Action: Access to Higher Education in the States
In February of 2010, the Howard Samuels Center, with the generous support
of the Ford Foundation, convened the Achieving Wider Access to Higher Education conference,
bringing together a wide range of community organizers, practitioners, educators and scholars
to discuss strategies to promote access to higher education throughout the United States.
This conference was part of our continuing effort to examine issues of access to higher
education and a follow up to our 2008 conference, Expanding Inclusion in Higher Education:
Initiatives and Referenda/Strategy and Alternatives, which convened stakeholders from
many states including legislators, community activists and local organizations to exchange
and disseminate information about affirmative action policies and legislation.
Our 2010 conferences was attended by leaders involved in education policy
initiatives at the national, state and local levels, and addressed several critical
issues in higher education. The role historically inclusive higher education institutions
like community colleges and minority-serving colleges and universities can play as models
was discussed; participants made presentations on under-represented populations who suffer
limited access to higher education, but are sometimes overlooked, including undocumented
immigrants, ex-offenders, and inhabitants of rural communities; supporters of affirmative
action shared the broad-based constituency building strategies they used to oppose
anti-affirmative action legislation. Thanks to the participation of so many dedicated
people, the Achieving Wider Access to Higher Education conference accomplished the goal
we had envisaged for it, providing an opportunity for pro-access constituencies, academics
and community leaders to collaborate and develop innovative and effective strategies to
increase access and develop an a national higher education constituency.
Below you will find links to the Howard Samuels Center's report on
The
Politics of Affirmative Action, the proceedings from the 2008 conference, as well as
an agenda from the 2010 conference and many presentations from the 2010 conference.
Presentations and Articles:
