State Attorney General stops Ohio State's plans to back Michigan - noteworthy news - Jim Petro disagrees with University of Michigan admissions policy - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, March 13, 2003

COLUMBUS, OHIO

Attorney General Jim Petro has nixed plans by Ohio State University to file a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the University of Michigan's affirmative action policies.

Petro refused to sign the "friend of the court brief," as required by state law. His office said in a letter to the university that the Michigan admissions policy is flawed.

"While Attorney General Petro strongly supports diversity, he is not a proponent of racial quotas," the letter said.

Ohio State released a statement supporting Michigan's affirmative action policies, saying it uses race as a "plus factor" in its own admissions.

"Diversity is not a deficit, but a dividend, not a burden but a blessing, not a fad but our future," Ohio State's Council on Diversity said in a news release.

Virginia Trethewey, Ohio State's chief attorney, said she told the attorney general's office the university was extremely disappointed with the decision.

"It just runs counter to everything we're doing and the success we've had ... in building a very diverse student body," she said.