by Kenneth Jost

About the author: Kenneth Jost is a staff writer for the CQ Researcher, a weekly report on current issues.

Jennifer Gratz wanted to go to the University of Michigan’s flagship Ann Arbor campus as soon as she began thinking about college. “It’s the best school in Michigan to go to,” she explains.

The white suburban teenager’s dream turned to disappointment in April 1995, however, when the university told her that even though she was “well qualified,” she had been rejected for one of the nearly 4,000 slots in the incoming freshman class.

Gratz was convinced something was wrong. “I knew that the University of Michigan was giving preference to minorities,” she says today. “If you give extra points for being of a particular race...