Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Academics for Affirmative Action and Social Justice (AAASJ), a multi-racial coalition of University of Michigan students, faculty and staff, was established in response to the lawsuits filed in 1997 challenging the university's admissions practices. AAASJ supported affirmative action and protested inequality through education, debates and rallies. The record group contains correspondence, newsletters, and essays.

The records of Academics for Affirmative Action and Social Justice (AAASJ) cover the period 1997-2000, and contain administrative information about the organization such as correspondence, records of events, newsletters, and statements.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence (including printouts of email) between the founders of AAASJ, Nadia Kim and Tom Guglielmo, and members of the organization. Most of the correspondence contains details regarding meetings, events and news related to affirmative action. The record group also contains information regarding events sponsored by AAASJ like debates and rallies.

AAASJ published a newsletter titled Veritas, with information about affirmative action and the organization's position on the University of Michigan's admissions policies. The record group contains newsletters covering the period 1998-1999. A VHS videotape of the panel session It's All About Mike is also include in this collection. The session, which took place on January 27, 2000, was a debate about affirmative action between members of AAASJ and the Michigan Review.

Two lawsuits filed in 1997 (Gratz, et al. v. Bollinger; and Grutter, et al. v. Bollinger) made the University of Michigan a focal point in the national debate over the value and legality of affirmative action in higher education. The lawsuits brought by non-minority applicants challenged the legality of the university's admissions process. Documentation includes briefs, judicial orders and opinions, expert reports, trial transcripts and exhibits, and amicus briefs from companies and organizations supporting the university's position in both the Gratz and Grutter case. Also included are snapshot of the university's admissions lawsuits website and clippings and media files.

The records are organized in four series, Grutter v. Bollinger, et al., Gratz v. Bollinger, et al., Admissions Lawsuits Website and News Media. The first three series contain briefs, judicial orders and opinions, experts' reports, amicus briefs from companies and organizations supporting the university's position in the lawsuits, and a limited number of press releases and documents printed from the website maintained by the university's News and Information Services regarding the lawsuits. The News Media series, however, is entirely comprised of news articles, editorials and press releases from newspapers across the country. Note that the record group currently contains only public documents. It does not contain internal General Counsel documents or correspondence regarding the lawsuits.

The office of the Vice Provost for Academic and Multicultural Affairs was originally established to develop and support programs to aid the University of Michigan in the recruitment and retention of students, faculty, and staff of color. The scope of the duties of the office were later expanded to include administrative oversight of a number of programs and services for faculty and students. The bulk of the record group is comprised of topical files related to multicultural issues, correspondence and reports relating to particular initiatives and funding programs, and administrative office files.

The records of the Vice Provost for Academic and Multicultural Affairs document the activities and functions of the office from its creation in 1987 through 2000. The record group has been received in increments over the years, with some overlap in content between different accessions; the researcher may want to consult the files in multiple accessions to ensure receiving the most complete account of a particular subject. Some scattered records predating the formal establishment of the office are present in the early accessions. The record group consists of records of Vice Provost Charles D. Moody, Sr. and Lester Monts relating to work of the Office; series concern relations of office with outside organizations as well as activities within the university. It also includes administrative files, chronological files, and files on units reporting to the Office such as Military Officer Education Programs and Undergraduate Admissions.

While the earlier accessions mainly concern the vice provost's involvement in multicultural affairs, later accessions include information on the office's broader academic affairs responsibilities, including administrative oversight of various student academic services. It should be noted that, for the most part, folder headings assigned by the vice provost's office have been retained, and reflect the use of terms such as "African Americans," "Blacks," "Hispanics," and "Latinos" by the office.