Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill have published a paper on the importance of diversity in higher education.
Dave DeWitt: The paper, published in the current issue of Rutgers Race and Law Review, surveyed 6,500 law students over ten years, on 50 different campuses. The results were clear: students reported a distinct benefit in their learning environments when students of diverse backgrounds were present.
The paper is part of UNC-Chapel Hill's amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. This fall, the court will hear a case out of Texas that again challenges the use of race in college admissions. In 2003, the Court voted to allow limited use of affirmative action in higher education.
That Supreme Court, of course, has changed since then. Proponents of affirmative action hope that more empirical research - like the UNC Law School study - will sway the court.