Students and activists packed a mock courtroom in the UCLA
School of Law Tuesday to fight for the future of affirmative acton
nationwide.

A group of law students filed a brief with the Supreme Court,
showing their support for the University of Michigan’s
admissions policies, and speakers discussed the problems that a
lack of diversity has caused on campus.

The students were joined by Congresswoman Maxine Waters,
D-Inglewood, who said students need to lead the campaign for
affirmative action.

“Oftentimes it is painful for me to come to these campuses
where minorities are not fairly represented,” Waters
said.

She attacked President Bush, who filed a brief last month
opposing Michigan’s affirmative action policy, and said
students are rising up to meet Bush’s challenge.

“What you have said is “˜Mr. President, come on,
it’s time to fight,'” Waters said.

Three white applicants to the University of Michigan are suing
the university, alleging they were denied admission to the law or
undergraduate school while less qualified minority students were
accepted.

Bush argued Michigan’s use of affirmative action amounts
to an illegal quota system, and race-neutral admissions policies
should be used.

According to Waters, students need to lead the movement to
support affirmative action because the Republicans in power,
starting with Bush, do not adequately represent students or the
needs of education.

Students also spoke out against what they see as a
discriminatory law school that turns underrepresented groups
away.

“We have suffered the humiliation of being told we
don’t belong,” said Anthony Solano, a third-year law
student.

“Today I am ashamed of being part of a law school that
actively discriminates against people of color,” Solano
added.

Since the end of affirmative action in California, the number of
underrepresented minorities at UCLA’s law school has dropped
significantly.

This has made attending the school a worse experience than
attending a private school that used affirmative action, said
Marisol Arriaga, a third-year law student.

Affirmative action is necessary to mitigate the effects of an
admissions process that discriminates against minorities, said
third-year law student Marky Keaton, one of the brief writers.

“We are living proof that it is impossible to attain
diversity with race-neutral policies,” said Erika Woods, a
third-year UCLA law student who also wrote part of the brief.

“It is impossible to attain desegregation (with
race-neutral policies),” Woods continued.

Organizers hope to mobilize students for a march on Washington,
D.C. when the court hears the case April 1 so as to get their
opinions out into mainstream discussion.