Minority Students May Be Star Witnesses in U-Michigan Affirmative Action Lawsuit.

Landmark case could turn on their campus experiences

DETROIT

The 17 Black and Hispanic students who last year won the right to intervene in an affirmative action lawsuit against the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor soon could be star witnesses in the controversial case, rather than just the supporting cast.

After hearing the first arguments of the case last month in U.S. District Court here, Judge Patrick J. Duggan suggested that he might not have a trial to hear the university's argument, which defends its affirmative action policies by stressing the educational benefits of diversity. Instead Duggan might want a trial to hear the student intervenors' argument: that Michigan needs to preserve its affirmative action policies to remedy past and present discrimination on its campus. Regardless of his decision -- which had not come in at Black Issues press time -- the trial likely will end up in the U.S. Supreme Court and have national repercussion for all public universities.

The students were selected from a group of more than 80 prospective UM applicants based on their grade-point average and their involvement in extracurricular activities. The student intervenors are all Black high school or college students -- 12 girls and 5 boys -- who have grade point-averages of 3.0 or higher. Eleven are from Detroit, five are from Ann Arbor and one is from Adrian.

"I might not need affirmative action to get into Michigan, but I think this case is more important than just me or the students who are applying now," says Niyah Carmichael, a senior at Renaissance High School who has a 3.8 GPA. "It's for my little brother or sister and people who will want to go there in the future." Carmichael is applying to Howard, Michigan and Spelman.

The 37,000-student university faces two lawsuits …