University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 5, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 17, 1997 Page: 4 of 6
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University Press • Wednesday, September 17,1997 • Page 4
UT apologizes for ‘abhorrent’ remarks made by professor
AUSTIN (AP) — The comments of a
University of Texas law school professor
about black and Hispanic students, which
ignited a firestorm of controversy at a
school struggling to boost minority enroll-
ment, were condemned Monday by the
university’s top officials.
“Personally, we find his comment
abhorrent,” three top officials said. “We
reaffirm today that the University of
Texas belongs to all the people of this
state.”
The response came in a written state-
ment" distributed to newspaper editorial
pages across the state.
It was signed by Donald Evans, chair-
man of the UT Board of Regents; William
Cunningham, chancellor of the UT sys-
tem; and Peter Flawn, the interim presi-
dent of the flagship campus, UT-Austin.
Their reaction followed remarks made
by UT law professor Lino Graglia last
week at the announcement of a new stu-
dent organization that supports a federal
court ruling outlawing race-based admis-
sions policies in Texas. Graglia is a faculty
adviser for the group.
“Blacks and Mexican-Americans are
not academically competitive with whites
in selective institutions,” Graglia said
then.
“It is the result primarily of cultural
effects. They have a culture that seems not
to encourage achievement. Failure is not
looked upon with disgrace.”
Graglia said it was unfortunate that he
and his remarks would be labeled racist.
But he said he believes that facts
regarding most minority students’ study
habits and their educational background
are clear and called affirmative action pro-
grams attempts to ignore those facts.
Since then, students, state lawmakers
and others have called for (^raglia’s
ouster. University officials have said they
can’t remove Graglia, a tenured professor,
simply for expressing his opinion.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who is sched-
uled to appear at a campus demonstration
Tuesday, became the latest to blast
Graglia.
“The professor is espousing a fascist
ideology and people of character across all
lines of color should denounce such pro-
paganda,” Jackson said.
The American Civil Liberties Union
came to the professor’s defense.
“The efforts to silence Graglia threat-
en academic freedom and free speech. All
positions should be available in the ‘mar-
ketplace of ideas,’ but particularly at a
university,” Jay Jacobson, Texas ACLU
executive director, said.
The university chancellor and presi-
dent met privately with Graglia on
Monday. Cunningham declined to com-
ment; Flawn issued a statement saying
they had “an open and frank discussion of
the issues” but declined to say more.
Graglia did not return phone calls
from The Associated Press, but the school
said he planned to issue a statement of his
own.
In their written statement, the univer-
sity’s "top officials said Graglia’s comments
were “an insult to thousands of University
of Texas minority students and alumni.”
They said Texas remains committed to
recruiting an ethically and racially diverse
student body that is “fully representative
of the marvelously rich diversity of the
people of Texas.”
However, they noted that the school is
laboring under an affirmative action ban
imposed by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in the case known as Hopwood.
That ruling, which the Supreme Court
last year allowed to stand, prohibited
•Texas universities from considering race
as a factor in admissions and scholarships.
The case began when four whites sued
after being denied admission to UT’s law
school.
The four, including Cheryl Hopwood,
contended the school’s affirmative action
policy discriminated against them by
admitting minorities with lower test
scores.
“We have no choice but to obey the
rulings of the courts,” the UT officials
wrote.
“We wish to make it unequivocally
clear that the institution remains commit-
ted to maintaining a diverse campus com-
munity in which people of all backgrounds
are welcome as full and equal members.”
UT on Monday released its official
enrollment figures for the fall semester. It
showed an overall decline in the number
of black and Hispanic students, with a
slight increase in blacks and Hispanics
among new freshmen.
According to the university, the total
student body this fall is 48,886, a 1.8 per-
cent increase over 1996.
That total included 32,056 white stu-
dents (up from 31,346 last year); 1,722
blacks (down from 1,911); 6,130 Hispanics
(down from 6,207); 5,298 Asian-
Americans (up from 4,989); 230 American
Indians (up from 209); 3,391 foreign stu-
dents (up from 3,346); and 19 listed as
“unknown.”
The number for first-time freshmen,
UT said, totaled 6,645, up from 5,529 last
fall.
Of those, there were 807 Hispanics,
up from 772, and 163 blacks, up one from
162.
Study shows Americans^
don’t know Constitution
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pop quiz: Hpw many U.S. senators arqw
there?
One in two Americans do not know the answer is 100, according to #
survey on the U.S. Constitution released Monday. And two in five donlU
know there are three branches of government, let alone what they are. —*■
Mayor Edward G. Rendell of Philadelphia, where the Constitution
was signed 210 years ago this Wednesday, said the results were disappoint-
ing.
“That shows an appalling lack of knowledge for a document that detej^,
mines what we do,” said Rendell, chairman of the National Constitutiqtfc,
Center, created by Congress in 1988 to increase awareness of the docKT
ment.
“Every day, issues important and central to us as people and govern**
ment are affected by the Constitution.”
Fewer than one in five surveyed were able to correctly answer at leasg*
eight of 10 basic questions, such as how long senators serve (six years), whq;.
nominates Supreme Court justices (the president) and what the first 10
amendments to the Constitution were called (the Bill of Rights).
Rendell, whose group sponsored the survey, did find a ray of hope irt
findings that 91 percent consider the Constitution important and 77 percent-
believe it has an impact on their daily lives — even if many of them cannot
precisely say how.
“The good news,” Rendell said, “is they have a great reverence for th£*
Constitution.”
Rendell said the lack of knowledge stems partly from an education sy£S
tern that tends to treat the Constitution in the context of history, rathai*
than as a living document that shapes current events.
The survey also found that:
• 16 percent incorrectly believe the Constitution declared Christiani^
the official U.S. religion.
• 35 percent wrongly believe the document declares English the
miere language.
• 24 percent cannot name any of the First Amendment rights, and onfif;
6 percent can name all four: freedom of speech, press, assembly and reh*£
gion.
The telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. citizens, conducted by the New
York communication firm of Shepardson, Stem & Kaminsky, has a margin
of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Respondents were asked a»
series of open-ended and true-false questions.
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Andris, Tonya. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 5, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 17, 1997, newspaper, September 17, 1997; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500614/m1/4/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lamar University.