Articles

Strict scrutiny for women!

June 03, 2024 | By ERIN WILCOX

American women gained the right to vote on August 18, 1920. Despite some hyperbolic handwringing and predictions of doom—But who will watch the children? Their fathers??—the world did not end with the passing of the 19th Amendment. In fact, women's suffrage was the most significant legal paradigm shift for gender equality of the 20th century ...

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The Hill : Republican governors should end racial preferences at the state level

January 05, 2024 | By ERIN WILCOX

GOP governors like Florida's Ron DeSantis and Alabama's Kay Ivey have been making splashy headlines for attacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards at companies like BlackRock and Disney. But the laws of their own states allow racial preferences in education, employment and publi ...

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Racial quotas for city contractors may ruin this family business

December 18, 2023 | By ERIN WILCOX

This article first appeared in the winter 2023 edition of Sword&Scales. In the mid-nineties, Jerry Thompson was headhunted for a Texas company that paid good money. He was a whiz at sales. So he moved his wife, Theresa, and two kids from Michigan to Texas. He loved living in Texas. But two years in, he couldn't stand his job. Why'd you ...

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The Center Square : In public contracting, fixing discrimination with more discrimination isn’t the answer

November 29, 2023 | By ERIN WILCOX

Since the Supreme Court put an end to college affirmative action programs last summer, many have been wondering what's next. Employment? Military academies? Public contracting? All three, it turns out. But nothing highlights the absolute failures of racial preferences more than a new lawsuit in Houston challenging the city's nearly 40-year-old m ...

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Can colleges still use race in admissions?

September 13, 2023 | By ERIN WILCOX

It's a brave new world out there for college admissions officers. Gone are the days when they could use racial stereotypes as a stand-in for an applicant's personal qualities or deduct points for being Asian American. When the Supreme Court finally put an end to these racist and unconstitutional admissions practices in June, it left many wondering: ...

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The Messenger : High School Lawsuit Offers Preview of Life After Affirmative Action

July 07, 2023 | By ERIN WILCOX

The Supreme Court has ended affirmative action as we knew it with its decision in the Students for Fair Admissions cases against Harvard and the University of North Carolina. From now on, college admissions officers can no longer use an applicant's race to decide who gets in and who stays out. So, what now? A lawsuit involving an elite Virginia ...

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A decades-old SCOTUS ruling could impact the future of race-based college admissions policies

February 16, 2023 | By ERIN WILCOX

Barbara Grutter was no stranger to a challenge. She worked in a doctor's office while getting her Bachelor of Science degree in 1978, when few women did. She raised two small children while learning information systems, when the concept barely existed. Later she founded and ran an IT consulting business, training healthcare companies to manage thei ...

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The Hill : National Merit award scandal is the latest chapter in TJ’s war on achievement

January 23, 2023 | By ERIN WILCOX

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is in hot water with parents again. Administrators used "equity" as a justification for withholding information from students that may impact the trajectory of their academic futures. In the final weeks of 2022, Thomas Jefferson parent Shawna Yashar made an odd discovery. Her son had earned ...

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Discourse : Racial Balance Is Not a Worthwhile Goal for Public Schools

December 22, 2022 | By ERIN WILCOX

At Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax, Virginia, it no longer matters that one of the eighth graders applying for admission this fall has been building robots in his garage since he was 10, or that another won her middle school's Math Olympiad last year and dreams of working for NASA someday. All that matters is they're Asian American, and TJ, ...