PENN
On Feb. 19, 2003, the University and Penn Law School Dean Michael Fitts signed individual "friend of the court" briefs to submit to the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of the University of Michigan's affirmative action admissions policy.
The policy, challenged in the Supreme Court at the time, established race as a factor in admissions.
The briefs also championed giving individual colleges the right to create their own admissions policies.
Known formally as amicus curiae briefs, Penn's brief was written by lawyers at Harvard, Brown, Duke, Princeton and Yale universities, as well as at the University of Chicago and Dartmouth College.
Fitts' brief was filed on behalf of specific law school deans from law schools across the country, including Georgetown, Duke, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell and New York Universities.
NATION
In February 2003, university leaders and students across the country prepared for two high-profile cases to come before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The cases - Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger - dealt with affirmative action programs in college admissions policies, calling into question whether they would be kept at all.
Grutter focused primarily on the University of Michigan's Law School, which received three lawsuits from applicants who accused the university of rejecting them because they were white.
Gratz, on the other hand, related to the issue of race-influenced admissions in Michigan's undergraduate admissions.
Meanwhile, President George W. Bush filed a brief urging the Court to oppose affirmative action, lending political weight to the issue.
In the end, on June 23, 2003, the Court upheld the affirmative action in the Grutter case, but in the Gratz case found the policy unconstitutional.
