This week, Brandeis will join other colleges and universities in signing an amicus (friend of the court) brief in support of the University of Michigan's affirmative action policies, according to John Hose, executive assistant to the president. He said the final language has yet to be approved, but the brief will be signed and a statement of interest written by Brandeis administrators will be submitted by next Tuesday. The University of Michigan will defend its policies before the Supreme Court on April 1.This decision has been in the works for the past month. Ed Stoner, a partner in the Pittsburgh law firm Reed Smith and former president of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, said he asked general counsels of various universities to join an amicus brief. As of yesterday, 24 institutions have joined the brief and Stoner said he expects more to follow suit throughout the next week.

Brandeis was one of the universities Stoner asked to join the brief. "The general counsel, Ms. Judith Sizer, was originally approached in early January by a colleague representing another institution who proposed that Brandeis join with several other institutions in an amicus brief involving the Michigan case before the Supreme Court," Hose said. "Brandeis was approached because it is a selective, private university."

Other signatories include Boston College, Emory, New York University, Northwestern University and Syracuse University.

An amicus brief is often termed a "Brandeis brief," named after Justice Louis D. Brandeis. "What that means is you are bringing things to the attention of the Court that aren't necessarily in the trial transcripts," Stoner said. "You are trying to make the court aware of the impact of its decision."

Briefs for the opposing side that is asking the Supreme Court to eliminate affirmative action in public higher education, were submitted by a Jan. 16 deadline. The U.S. government submitted one supported by President George W. Bush, writing, "This court has long recognized that the Equal Protection Clause outlaws quotas under any circumstances and forbids the government from employing race-based policies when race-neutral alternatives are available." Experiential, geographical, political and economic diversity were listed as alternatives to race-based affirmative action in the brief.

Before Brandeis officially decided to join the brief, some students and faculty had sent letters to President Jehuda Reinharz in late January asking him to author or join an amicus brief in support of the University of Michigan's policies.

Club Resources Coordinator Nate Westheimer '05 sent an e-mail to Reinharz on Jan. 28. "Knowing how much Brandeis profits from as little affirmative action as it does do, and seeing how important giving access to people who don't have resources is, a friend of the court brief from Brandeis would be that much more (in demonstrating its commitment to affirmative action)," he said.

North Quad Senator Daniel Mauer '06, who also asked Reinharz to take action on this issue, said he believes signing the brief will uphold the University's commitment to social justice. "I thought that it was important for us as an institution to support affirmative action because we have such a social justice history and I think affirmative action is a social justice issue," he said. "Especially given that schools all the way up to Harvard had filed friend of the court briefs, I thought it would be a good addition to the cause if Brandeis supported it."

Westheimer said he hopes signing the amicus brief will make the University continue to support affirmative action policies in the future. "Making this friend of the court brief is such a noble thing for the school to do," he said. "By doing this, they are opening more doors for scrutiny (about Brandeis' affirmative action policy)."

According to Director of Enrollment Deena Whitfield, Brandeis uses ethnic background as only one factor in the admissions process. She said admissions officers try to shape a first-year class with wide geographic, cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. "That makes a more vibrant classroom and a more vibrant university, since a lot of what you learn goes on outside the classroom," she said.

The University of Michigan has been particularly criticized for its use of a point system in admissions. Black, Hispanic and American Indian applications have been automatically given an extra 20 points on a 150 point scale, according to the Los Angeles Times. In the amicus brief submitted by the United States, the University of Michigan was accused of using racial quotas, which were outlawed under the U.S. Supreme Court's 1978 decision in Board of Regents v. Bakke.

Brandeis does not use a similar numerical system in its admissions process, according to Whitfield. "We really look at a student, and there's so much nuance that it's really hard to put numbers on any of this," she said. "In the end, people are always wanting something to be quantified, and what a student brings to the campus is not always quantifiable."

The Rev. Nathaniel Mays, assistant dean of student life and coordinator of diversity services, said he also favors affirmative action, and is pleased Brandeis has decided to support the University of Michigan in its case. "We're not where we should be as a nation, and we need something to make opportunities available for qualified people to have access to those areas they don't have access to," he said.

Opponents of affirmative action have a different argument. Ward Connerly, chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, told CNN that "the nation is dedicated to the principle of equal treatment to individuals, not groups." He added that diversity of thought matters more than racial diversity in educational institutions.

Brandeis will attach a statement of interest from the University along with the amicus brief it is jointly signing with other universities, Hose said. The one-page document explains Brandeis' vision as a university and its reasoning behind signing the amicus brief.

"The quality of academic debate and the exchange of ideas and alternative points of view are directly influenced by the various perspectives and worldviews of the participants," the statement reads. "To deprive institutions ... of the ability to consider students for admission ... on the basis of subjective judgements involving the many factors and personal characteristics that directly contribute to the academic experience, including such factors as race and gender, would lessen the ability of America's institutions of higher education, both public and private, to provide the rich educational environment that is the envy of the world.