FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Leslie A. Dunbar

(212)558-5438 (day)

718/798-5472 (evening)

ldunbar@nul.org

New York, NY, April 11, 2000–"The National Urban League applauds the efforts of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to bring attention to the negative impact policies to replace affirmative action in states such as Florida, California and Texas are having on minority admissions to the most competitive campuses in those university systems," National Urban League President Hugh B. Price said.

"Abolishing affirmative action nationwide in the college admissions process is leading to minorities ‘cascading" down to less selective campuses,’ Price said. "We should be unwilling to allow our students to settle for a less competitive education."

Price points to studies which show that young people within a broad range of test scores can do quite well in highly competitive colleges. "The SAT scores of George W. Bush and Bill Bradley indicate that students with modest SAT scores can become national leaders–and in Bradley’s case even a Rhodes Scholar–when they attend elite schools. They clearly belonged on those campuses. So do our students. Therefore, the net loss of minority students in the most competitive colleges is a severe blow to the hopes and aspirations of African American and minority students."

In his position paper titled, The Assault on Affirmative Action: Counting the Casualties," Price outlines the inherent flaws in admissions policies that have replaced affirmative action in California, Texas and Florida. To receive a copy, call (212)558-5438, or send an e-mail toldunbar@nul.org .

Hugh B. Price is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban League, the nation’s premier social service and civil rights organization serving African-Americans and others who are striving to enter the economic mainstream. He was appointed on July 1, 1994. From 1978 to 1982, Price was a member of the Editorial Board of The New York Times, where he wrote editorials on a broad range of public policy issues, including education.

Founded in 1910, the National Urban League is a nonprofit organization whose 115 affiliates in 35 states and the District of Columbia provide direct services focused on empowering African-Americans to achieve economic, academic and racial equality. The League’s headquarters is located at 120 Wall Street in New York City.