Lani Guinier, a professor of law at Harvard University, and author and civil rights activist, commenced the Distinguished Lecture Series season Tuesday at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
Guinier spoke about race and its role in 21st century America. She said people must talk about race.
\Race can be an asset,"" she said. ""It can be a tool, a lens we can use to address the environment. If we don't talk about race, the only way we use race is to stigmatize.""
Guinier is a staunch advocate of affirmative action, but said she believes universities should stress confirmative action.
""Affirmative action is a stigma that can be a stereo threat [and] depress the performance [of minorities],"" she said. ""Confirmative action says we need to learn from what we're doing with people of color.""
Guinier cited studies from the University of Michigan Law School and other institutions, saying minority students may not be the most successful in school, but they are most likely to be community leaders.
Guinier also said she believes standardized tests like the SAT relay class'not success.
""[SAT scores] correlate with your parents' socio-economic status,"" she said. ""Those who were already privileged are gaining.""
She cited results from a program in Texas that support this. The program ensures admission to the University of Texas or Texas A&M to any student in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
""Those who come in under [the program] have higher freshman GPAs than those with SATs 200 and 300 points higher [who were accepted based on other criteria],"" she said.
With this, Guinier said she disagrees with those who promote solely merit-based college admission.
""I believe that merit is a function of what the mission is of the institution,"" Guinier said.
Ify Offor, a senior at UW-Madison, said she was inspired by Guinier's message.
""She gives specific strategies to combat racism in our daily lives,"" Offor said. ""I'm preparing for the LSATs right now and her discussion that the LSAT correlates with wealth and not intelligence is important to remember.""
Valissia Allen, a first year law student at UW-Madison, said she can see Guinier's message in practice at UW-Madison. She said that the UW-Madison law school is the most diverse of first tier top 25 law schools in the country.
""The sheer number of African Americans and minorities that came in this year [to the law school] show that they are definitely implementing her vision,"" she said.
