Newswise — FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ann Killenbeck, associate professor of law at the University of Arkansas, is available to comment on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to uphold the University of Texas-Austin’s affirmative action program.
While working on her doctorate at the University of Michigan, Killenbeck focused on legal and policy issues in higher education. Her dissertation was one of the first studies to assess the impact of affirmative action programs on student outcomes. This study garnered considerable attention, and she was invited to participate in a number of major national conferences.
In May 1997, Killenbeck was one of a small number of people who participated in the Diversity & Higher Education conference, sponsored by the Harvard Civil Rights project. The conference helped shape the litigation strategy pursued by the University of Michigan to defend its admissions systems and the litigation that resulted in the Supreme Court's landmark opinions in Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger.
In three separate articles, Killenbeck has argued that all three major affirmative action cases – Bakke, Grutter and Fisher – require universities employing a race-conscious admissions policy do more than merely admit a diverse student body.
“Institutions have the duty to establish an educational program that ensures that a range of educational outcomes are in fact occurring at their institution,” she says. “This is where, in my opinion, institutions are legally vulnerable. To my knowledge, universities and law schools are taking for granted that simply admitting a diverse student body will ensure positive educational outcomes. That fact has been disproven years ago.”
Killenbeck obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Nebraska. She earned a J.D. from the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. in public policy and higher education from the University of Michigan.
To learn more about Ann Killenbeck, visit http://www.law.uark.edu/directory/profile.php?uId=akillen.
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CONTACTS: Ann Killenbeck, associate professor School of Law479-466-2830 (mobile), [email protected]
Matt McGowan, science and research communications officerUniversity Relations479-575-4246, [email protected]
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