How Diversity Gained-and Lost-Its Place in Higher Ed

"Wilhelm von Humboldt, who founded the University of Berlin in 1810, first recognized the value of incorporating a variety of viewpoints into education and opening his predominantly Protestant institution to Catholics and Jews."

"Lewis Powell wrote the 1978 Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke decision, which struck down racial quotas in admissions but found that diversity was a compelling enough state interest to justify the consideration of race as a factor in admissions."

"The majority opinions in three key Supreme Court decisions regarding diversity in higher education were written by conservative justices appointed by Republicans, demonstrating that diversity was not always the partisan concept it's become today."

David Oppenheimer's book traces diversity's history as an institutional framework from Wilhelm von Humboldt's 1810 University of Berlin through contemporary American higher education. Early U.S. advocates included philosopher John Dewey, Harvard president Charles Eliot, and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Significantly, three landmark Supreme Court decisions on diversity in higher education were authored by conservative justices appointed by Republicans: Lewis Powell's 1978 Bakke decision permitted race consideration in admissions, Sandra Day O'Connor's 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger upheld race-conscious admissions, and Anthony Kennedy's 2016 Fisher decision supported race-conscious policies. Oppenheimer demonstrates that diversity was not always the partisan issue it has become, with bipartisan judicial support for its educational value.

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