An anti-diversity group is suing the University of Michigan and its student-run legal journal, the Michigan Law Review, claiming it discriminates against straight white cisgender men. The lawsuit, filed in June in federal court in Detroit, comes from a group called Faculty, Alumni, & Students Opposed to Racial Preferences, known as FASORP. The nonprofit says its mission is to restore meritocracy in academia. FASORP claims the Michigan Law Review violates federal anti-discrimination laws—specifically Title VI and Title IX—by using race and sex preferences to select its members and articles.
According to the group,
“left-wing students and affirmative-action devotees at the University of Michigan Law School were unhappy with the demographic makeup produced by merit-based selection … the Michigan Law Review, with the approval and acquiescence of the University of Michigan general counsel’s office, has implemented a corrupt and illegal scheme of race and sex preferences to select its student members.”
According to the complaint, just 40 percent of Law Review staffers are selected solely based on application scores. The rest are picked by a Holistic Review Committee, which considers applicants’ personal essays—where they are allegedly encouraged to reveal their race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. FASORP alleges the process is rigged to ensure more women, non-Asian racial minorities, and queer students are chosen.
This lawsuit echoes concerns raised earlier this year by Department of Education official Craig Trainor, who warned universities not to use personal essays to determine race in admissions decisions, threatening loss of federal funding. The University of Michigan responded to the lawsuit, saying it remains steadfast in its commitment to following the law and will defend itself. FASORP says it is suing on behalf of four white, straight, cisgender men, three law professors whose articles were allegedly rejected, and one student who applied to the Law Review.
None are named in the suit. A similar case FASORP brought against Harvard Law Review in 2019 was dismissed because the group didn’t identify its members—raising questions about whether this case will stand.
