Gratz v. Bollinger
| Decision Date | 13 December 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-CV-75231-DT.,97-CV-75231-DT. |
| Citation | 122 F.Supp.2d 811 |
| Parties | Jennifer GRATZ and Patrick Hamacher, for themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. Lee BOLLINGER, James J. Duderstadt, the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan, Defendants, and Ebony Patterson, Ruben Martinez, Laurent Crenshaw, Karla R. Williams, Larry Brown, Tiffany Hall, Kristen M.J. Harris, Michael Smith, Khyla Craine, Nyah Carmichael, Shanna Dubose, Ebony Davis, Nicole Brewer, Karla Harlin, Brian Harris, Katrina Gipson, Candice B.N. Reynolds, by and through their parents or guardians, Denise Patterson, Moise Martinez, Larry Crenshaw, Harry J. Williams, Patricia Swan-Brown, Karen A. McDonald, Linda A. Harris, Deanna A. Smith, Alice Brennan, Ivy Rene Charmichael, Sarah L. Dubose, Inger Davis, Barbara Dawson, Roy D. Harlin, Wyatt G. Harris, George C. Gipson, Shawn R. Reynolds, and Citizens for Affirmative Action's Preservation, Defendant-Intervenors. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
Kerry L. Morgan, Pentiuk & Couvreur, Taylor, MI, David F. Herr, Mason, Edelman, Minneapolis, MN, for Jennifer Gratz, Patrick Humacher.
Godfrey J. Dillard, Detroit, MI, for Ebondy Patterson, Ruben Martinez, Laurent Crenshaw, Karla R. Williams, Larry Brown, Tiffany Hall, Kristen M.J. Harris, Michael Smith, Khyla Craine, Nyah Carmichael, Shanna Dubose, Ebony Davis, Nicole Brewer, Karla Harlin, Brian Harris, Katrina Gipson, Candice B.N. Reynolds, Citizens for Affirmative Action's Preservation.
Philip J. Kessler, Butzel Long, Ann Arbor, MI, John A. Payton, John H. Pickering, Wilmer, Cutler, Washington, DC, Leonard M. Niehoff, Butzel, Long, Detroit, MI, Jane Sherburne, Wilmer, Cutler, Washington, DC, for Lee Bollinger, James T. Duderstadt.
Philip J. Kessler, Butzel Long, Ann Arbor, MI, Leonard M. Niehoff, Butzel, Long, Detroit, MI, for University of Michigan, Bd. of Regents, University of Michigan College of Literature, Arts and Science.
Richard A. Wilhelm, Dickinson, Wright, Bloomfield Hills, MI, for College Entrance Examination Bd.
Susan I. Leffler, Michigan Dept. of Atty. Gen., Habeas Corpus Division, Lansing, MI, for Jennifer M. Granholm.
Oscar M. Garibaldi, Keith A. Noreika, Covington, Burling, Washington, DC, Brice M. Clagett, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, for National Ass'n of Scholars.
Kenneth Geller, Mayer, Brown, Washington, DC, for General Motors Corp.
Jeffrey S. Silver, Randall E. Mehrberg, Jenner & Block, Chicago, IL, Deanne E. Maynard, Shilpa S. Satoskar, Jenner & Block, Washington, DC, Jon D. Botsford, Dwight K. Hamilton, Steelcase Inc., Grand Rapids, MI, for Steelcase, Inc.
Jeffrey S. Silver, Jenner & Block, Chicago, IL, for Abbott Laboratories, Bank One Corp., E.I. DuPont de Nemours Co., Dow Chemical Co., Eastman Kodak Co., Eli Lilly and Co., General Mills, Inc., Intel Corp., Johnson and Johnson, Kellogg Co., KMPG Intern., Lucent Technologies, Inc., Microsoft Corp., PPG Industries, Inc., Procter and Gamble Co., Sara Lee Corp., Texaco, Inc., TRW, Inc.
Theodore M. Shaw, Olatunde C.A. Johnson, Melissa S. Woods, NAACP Legal Defense & Educ. Fund, Inc., New York, NY, Godfrey J. Dilliard, Milton R. Henry, Reginald M. Turner, Citizens for Affirmative Action's Preservation, Detroit, MI, Christopher A. Hansen, E. Vincent Warren, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, NY, Patricia Mendoza, Marta Delgado, Mexican American Legal Defense & Educ. Fund, Chicago, IL, Brent E. Simmons, ACLU Fund of Michigan, Lansing, MI, Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU Fund of Michigan, Detroit, MI, for Defendant-Intervenors.
On October 14, 1997, Plaintiffs filed a class action against the University of Michigan and various university officials asserting that the University's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts ("LSA") had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, by considering race as a factor in admissions decisions. Plaintiffs seek injunctive, declaratory, and monetary relief.
On December 23, 1998, this Court issued an Order bifurcating the action into a "liability" and "damages" phase. This matter is currently before the Court on cross-motions for summary judgment with respect to the "liability" phase only, which has been previously defined as "whether [D]efendants' use of race as a factor in admissions decisions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution,"1 and has been specifically limited to Plaintiffs' request for injunctive and declaratory relief.2 Oral argument was heard on November 16, 2000.
For the reasons set forth herein:
Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment shall be granted with respect to the LSA's admissions programs in existence from 1995 through 1998, and the admissions programs for such years shall be declared unconstitutional;
The University Defendants' motion for summary judgment shall be granted with respect to the LSA's admissions programs for 1999 and 2000;
Plaintiffs' request for injunctive relief shall be denied;
Defendants Duderstadt and Bollinger's motion for summary judgment on grounds of qualified immunity shall be granted; and
The Board of Regent's motion for summary judgment on grounds of Eleventh Amendment immunity shall be denied.3
The University of Michigan ("University") is a public institution of higher education located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. According to Defendants, admission to the University is selective, meaning that many more students apply each year than can be admitted. The University received some 13,500 applications for admission to the LSA in 1997, from which it elected to enroll 3,958 freshmen. Among its stated admissions objectives, the University strives to compose a class of students from diverse races, ethnicities, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The University views diversity as an integral component of its mission. According to the University, diversity "increase[s] the intellectual vitality of [its] education, scholarship, service, and communal life." (Jt. Summ. Facts at 1).4 To facilitate the University's goal of diversity, it is undisputed that the LSA employs race as a factor in its admissions decisions.
Plaintiffs Jennifer Gratz and Patrick Hamacher are Caucasion residents of the State of Michigan, both of whom applied for admission into the 1995 and 1997 classes of the LSA, respectively. On January 19, 1995, Plaintiff Gratz was notified that a final decision regarding her admission had been delayed until early to mid April 1995, as she was considered by the LSA as "well qualified, but less competitive than the students who ha[d] been admitted on first review." (Id.). On April 24, 1995, Plaintiff Gratz was notified that the LSA was unable to offer her admission. Thereafter, Plaintiff Gratz enrolled in the University of Michigan at Dearborn, from which she graduated in the spring of 1999.
Similarly, Plaintiff Hamacher was notified on November 19, 1996, that a decision regarding his admission was "postponed" until mid-April of 1997. According to the LSA's letter, a decision regarding Plaintiff Hamacher had been postponed because, "[a]lthough [his] academic credentials [were] in the qualified range, they [were] not at the level needed for first review admission." (Id. at 2). On April 8, 1997, Plaintiff Hamacher's admissions application was rejected. Thereafter, Plaintiff Hamacher enrolled at Michigan State University.
The Defendant-Intervenors are seventeen African American and Latino students who have applied for, or intend to apply for, admission to the University, joined by the Citizens for Affirmative Action's Preservation, a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to preserve opportunities in higher education for African American and Latino students in Michigan. According to Defendant-Intervenors, the resolution of this case directly threatens African American and Latino students' access to higher education.
Plaintiffs have filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that the LSA's use of race as a factor in admissions decisions violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. The University Defendants have filed a cross-motion for summary judgment asserting that the LSA's use of race as a factor in admissions decisions is, as a matter of law, constitutional. Defendant-Intervenors have filed responses to both motions, supporting the University Defendants' assertion that the LSA's admissions policies are constitutional.
Summary judgment is proper only if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, thereby entitling the moving party to judgment as a matter of law. Hunter v. Caliber Sys., Inc., 220 F.3d 702, 709 (6th Cir.2000); see also FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c). There is no genuine issue of material fact for trial unless, by viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, a reasonable jury could "return a verdict for that party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). On a motion for summary judgment, the moving party bears the initial responsibility of informing the Court of the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of the record that establish the absence of a material issue of fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).
Once the moving party has met its burden, the nonmoving party must go beyond the pleadings and come forward with specific facts to show that there is a genuine issue for trial. FED. R. CIV. P. 56(e); Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-24, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53. The nonmoving party must do more than show that there is some meta-physical doubt as to the material facts. Pierce v. Commonwealth Life Ins. Co., 40 F.3d 796, 800 (6th Cir.1994). The nonmoving party must present...
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