In July 1970, a federal court found that the State of Alabama Department of Public Safety systematically discriminated against blacks in hiring: “in the thirty-seven-year history of the patrol there has never been a black trooper.” The court ordered that the state reform its hiring practices to end “pervasive, systematic, and obstinate discriminatory exclusion of blacks.” A full 12 years and several lawsuits later, the department still had not promoted any blacks above entry level nor had they implemented a racially fair hiring system. The Supreme Court, however, was split 5–4 in its decision on the Bakke case and addressed only a minimal number of the many complex issues that had sprung up about affirmative action. The Supreme Court ruled that while race was a legitimate factor in school admissions, the use of such inflexible quotas as the medical school had set aside was not. Bakke maintained that judging him on the basis of his race was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The school reserved 16 of its 100 places for this latter group.Īllan Bakke, a white applicant, was rejected twice even though there were minority applicants admitted with significantly lower scores than his.
of California, Davis, Medical School, which had two separate admissions pools, one for standard applicants, and another for minority and economically disadvantaged students. This landmark Supreme Court case imposed limitations on affirmative action to ensure that providing greater opportunities for minorities did not come at the expense of the rights of the majority-affirmative action was unfair if it led to reverse discrimination. Besides, an official of the organization must be assigned responsibility for the implementation of equal employment opportunity and the affirmative action program.
For federal contractors employing more than 50 people and having federal contracts totaling more than $50,000, compliance with these regulations includes disseminating and enforcing a nondiscrimination policy, establishing a written affirmative action plan and placement goals for women and minorities, and implementing action-oriented programs for accomplishing these goals. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), under the Department of Labor, monitors this requirement for all federal contractors, including all UC campuses, and has developed regulations to which these contractors must adhere. In 1967, President Johnson amended the order to include sex on the list of attributes.Įxecutive Order 11246 also requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to promote the full realization of equal opportunity for women and minorities. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin by those organizations receiving federal contracts and subcontracts. On September 24, 1965, President Lyndon B. The Affirmative Action Plan is designed to comply with applicable federal laws and regulations. without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.”Īffirmative action began as a government remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination against these individuals and has consisted of policies, programs, and procedures that provide equal opportunity to these protected groups in job hiring, admission to institutions of higher education, the awarding of government contracts, and other social and civil benefits. Its primary goal is to ensure employers create a level playing field-that no qualified person is disadvantaged or treated unfairly during the hiring or promotion process because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.Īs a recipient of federal funds, receiving more than $50,000 of government contracts a year, the University of Denver must comply with Affirmative Action requirements and develop an Affirmative Action Plan and program in place. The Affirmative Action Officer implements the plan with various campus partners, to track and report on the affirmative action goals. Kennedy signed an executive order requiring federally-funded employers to “Take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed. Affirmative Action is an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for underrepresented communities such as veterans, persons of color, persons with disabilities, and women. Affirmative Action has been in effect since 1961 when President John F.
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