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Marshall University Dissolves Racially Restricted Orientation Classes

HUNTINGTON, W.Va., August 9, 2006鈥擬arshall University has taken the advice of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (果冻传媒app官方) and removed racial restrictions from an orientation course for first-year students. Last year鈥檚 listing for University Studies 101 (UNI 101) stated that certain sections were limited to 鈥淎frican American FIREOnly.鈥 Thanks to 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 intervention, several sections of UNI 101 this coming fall will focus on 鈥淎frican American Student Issues,鈥 but will not exclude any student based upon race or ancestry.

鈥淔IREis pleased that Marshall has changed the enrollment requirements for UNI 101,鈥 stated FIREPresident Greg Lukianoff. 鈥湽炒絘pp官方鈥 rights to take certain courses鈥攅specially at a public institution鈥攎ust not be determined by the color of their skin.鈥

After learning last November that Marshall University limited enrollment in several UNI 101 sections to 鈥淎frican American FIREOnly,鈥 FIREquickly sent a letter to Marshall President Stephen J. Kopp explaining that racially segregated courses are both unlawful and misguided. FIREreminded Kopp that Brown v. Board of Education and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 both prohibit racial discrimination in higher education.

FIRE also called on Kopp to respect , which states that Marshall 鈥減rovides the opportunity to further the social growth of students by maintaining an environment conducive to learning how to get along with peers and how to handle differences such as race, ethnicity, and gender.鈥 FIREpointed out the irony in claiming to promote diversity by having separate 鈥淎frican American FIREOnly鈥 sections that, instead of drawing students together by their common interests, admit or exclude students on the basis of their skin color.

Kopp responded to 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 letter on November 15, 2005 by stating that 鈥淎lthough these sections appear to be based on race, they are in fact made up of both white and African American students.鈥 FIRE replied that any student reading the official course description would have reasonably believed that certain sections were reserved for African American students. The description was therefore nearly as effective as enforced segregation in barring students of other races.

In response to 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 objections, Marshall has changed the course description for UNI 101, so that several sections this coming fall will focus on 鈥淎frican American Student Issues,鈥 drawing students concerned about African American issues instead of limiting enrollment by race.

Last October, FIRE won a similar victory at Arizona State University (ASU), where a professor had limited his English class to 鈥淣ative Americans only.鈥 After FIREpublicly criticized the segregated class sections, ASU disavowed the practice.

鈥溾楽eparate but equal鈥 was discredited decades ago,鈥 stated Lukianoff. 鈥淢arshall University鈥檚 student body deserves equal treatment under the law, and we are glad that the university came to understand that.鈥

FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation鈥檚 colleges and universities. 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 efforts to preserve liberty at Marshall University can be viewed at thefire.org/marshall.

CONTACT:
Greg Lukianoff, President, 果冻传媒app官方: 215-717-3473; greg_lukianoff@thefire.org

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