What You Can Do

Sample Letter to Congress to Save Affirmative Action


Dear ______________________________:

As a member of the academic community of _________________, I urge you to support affirmative action and vote against _________________. We all want a color- and gender-blind society, but we know that serious discrimination still persists today. As long as discrimination based on race and gender continues to exist, we must fashion remedies that take race and gender into account.

It is essential that affirmative action be preserved for the following reasons:

• Diversity serves an important educational function.
• Diversity in higher education helps prepare students for the world of work and for participation in a democratic society.
• Affirmative action helps guarantee equal employment opportunity in colleges and universities and enhances quality in higher education.