Obama administration issues affirmative action guidance for colleges

The Obama administration has aligned itself strongly with the right of colleges to consider race and ethnicity in admissions decisions. Guidance issued jointly Friday afternoon by the Departments of Education and Justice states that diversity is an important educational goal, and that colleges should be able to use a variety of methods (including the consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions) to achieve diversity. In many ways, the guidance is consistent with the arguments made by colleges that consider race in admissions decisions -- but it represents a reversal from 2008 guidance issued by the Bush administration that stressed the limits on the rights of colleges to consider race in admissions.

JOB OPENING: Data/Budget Analyst & Affirmative Action Specialist - Initial Review Date is November 1, 2011

ODEI 2009-2011 Report

New book sheds light on survival of Jewish culture

By the early 1900’s, over 40 percent of the world’s Jews lived within the borders of the Russian empire. For more than a century, this large Jewish population was restricted to a region called the Pale of Settlement, where they forged their own distinctive way of life—creating a culture that was so isolated from the world, historians began to call the area “The Jewish Dark Continent.” But just two years before the start of World War I, a socialist revolutionary named An-sky began an ambitious expedition to preserve and document the region’s Jewish traditions and culture.

Soaring Poverty Casts Spotlight on ‘Lost Decade’

Another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the 52 years the bureau has been publishing figures on it.

Study Finds Minority Students Benefit From Minority Instructors

Minority students in community colleges fare better academically if their instructors are of the same underrepresented minority groups, according to a working paper released this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Elmhurst College Will Ask Applicants About Sexual Orientation

Elmhurst College has become the first institution to include a question about sexual orientation and gender identity on its undergraduate admissions application.

CNN's Defining America: The changing face of America's youth

The majority of kids in California are now Hispanic, according to the US Census Bureau. CNN visited San Bernardino, where Hispanics became the majority of the population during the 2000-to get a sense of what this new generation looks like.

Professor documents the immigrant experience in Santa Cruz County

In her new book, "I'm Neither Here nor There, Mexicans' Quotidian Struggles with Migration and Poverty," Professor Patricia Zavella describes how poor and working class Mexican Americans and migrants struggle for identity in Santa Cruz County.

EPA administrator speaks of commitment to environmental justice

In her College 10 commencement address June 12, Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, spoke of her commitment to environmental justice and lauded College 10's focus on social justice.