Face The State Staff Report
The Colorado Commission on Higher Education has declined to cooperate with an organization attempting to study the impact of race and gender preferences on the admissions process at state colleges and universities here.
In 1997, the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Virginia-based policy foundation dedicated to abolishing race-conscious government policies, conducted a study demonstrating that Colorado universities routinely used racial preferences during the admissions process. Today, CEO is currently trying to conduct a similar analysis but, according to CEO attorney Rodger Clegg, has been denied access to essential admissions data by CCHE.
"Frequently, schools will admit that they consider race, but they won't go into details," said Clegg.
According to CCHE, run by David Skaggs, a Democrat and former U.S. Congressman appointed to the post by Gov. Bill Ritter, it is illegal for schools to publicly release individual scholastic data because it violates student privacy. Relying on its interpretation of a 1988 court decision, Sergeant School District v. Western Services, Inc., CCHE says the data in question is protected under the Colorado Open Records Act and cannot be released in any form - even with names redacted - to the public. However, if the state conducted its own analysis of race as a contributing factor in admissions, that information would be considered public record.
Under CEO's previous analysis, CCHE provided Clegg with the statistical analysis he used. This time around, CCHE isn't cooperating by claiming it is too short staffed to help with any kind of analysis. CCHE did not return multiple requests for comment before press time. "I would hope that everybody would agree that taxpayers and voters in a state have the right to know whether a state institution is engaging in illegal discrimination," said Clegg.
Colorado has become a battleground for civil rights ever since an initiative became slated to appear on the ballot this November as Amendment 46. The Colorado Civil Rights Initiative says, "The state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any group or individual on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public contracting, or public education." If Amendment 46 passes, university officials would be required to end the consideration of race or gender in the admissions process.
"It’s disappointing to me that we don’t try to drill down into the numbers as far and as best we can, while still honoring confidentially and promoting diversity," said CU Regent Tom Lucero, R-Johnstown. "This is something [that CCHE] should be responsible for."