Arizona State University: Racial Restrictions on Class Enrollment (2005)

Case Materials

Blog Entries

Media Coverage

  • "A Herd of Academic Minds," Edwin J. Feulner, The Heritage Foundation, November 1, 2005: Sadly, even if this particular example has been fixed, it's symptomatic of a larger problem. When it comes to political philosophy, the modern American academy presents a grim front of uniformity -- an almost religious orthodoxy. That ought to trouble thoughtful people on both the right and the left.
  • "Arizona Segregation," Mark Goldblatt, National Review, October 25, 2005: A mini-scandal erupted earlier this month when the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) discovered that Arizona State University Professor G. Lynn Nelson was restricting enrollment in his Freshman Comp classes to American Indians. After FIRE alerted the school's administration to the restriction, which appeared on Nelson's faculty homepage, Nelson was immediately forced to remove it — though he found it a "mystery" why the controversy had arisen since he'd spent a decade discouraging non-Indians from registering.
  • "Arizona State Ends Class Limited to Native Americans," Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, October 7, 2005: Greg Lukianoff, director of legal and public advocacy for FIRE, said that he did not doubt the good intentions of Professor Nelson. “I’m sure that his heart is in the right place, but racial segregation is unconstitutional for a reason,” he said.
  • "Charge of Bias Erupts Over a Course at Arizona State," Jacob Gershman, The New York Sun, October 7, 2005: "I can't think of any possible way that they would be allowed to do this by law," the director of legal and public advocacy for FIRE, Greg Lukianoff, said. "We got rid of racial segregation for a reason."
  • "Race requirement for class dropped," Amanda Gonser, ASU Web Devil, October 7, 2005: Although offering segregated classes is against federal law, until recently ASU enrolled students in an English class based on race.
  • "FIRE Denounces Arizona State's Reintroduction of Segregated Classes," Jim Brown, Agape Press, October 7, 2005: For the second time in less than four years, Arizona State University is limiting certain classes to “Native American” students only. However, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is accusing the university of racial segregation and has written a letter to the school, demanding that the classes be opened to all students.
  • "ASU denies classes restricted," Associated Press, Mohave Daily News, October 5, 2005: Glick said the Tempe-based university became aware of the site and the flier after receiving a Sept. 23 letter from FIRE. He said the ''Native Americans only'' disclaimer was removed from Nelson's Web site by Sept. 26.