Bakke V. Board of Regents
Today in class a mock trial of the case of Bakke v.s Board of Regents was held. This case occurred in the year of 1978 and was between Allan Bakker and the Board of Regents at the University of California. Bakke sued the University because the medical school left 16 seats of the 100 seats to anyone who is considered a minority. This could be anyone of Asian, African American, or anything other than white descent. Bakke was denied admissions to the school two times. In retaliation, or constitutionally, he decided to sue the school. He stated that what the school was doing was unconstitutional and racist. During this case, the Supreme Court ruled that the University of California, included quotas that were considered racist in it’s admissions process. However, this did not mean that race would not be considered in future admission processes. The court ruled that schools may consider race to allow more diversity in the school or specific program. The admissions however, should be as constitutional as possible. The ruling came down to a 5-4 vote because both sides of the argument had great points. 
One side of the class argued that what the University was doing during the admission process was unconstitutional. This side fought on the side of Allan Bakker. The other side of the class defended the University of California and believed that the admission process was clean and caused no harm to the students. For those who fought for the University of California they used many ideas to fight the case. Those fighting on the side of the University used modes of argumentation like Religion, History, Customs/Norms, and Emotional Appeal. These same motives were used for those fighting for the side of Bakke.
For the University of California side I chose to fight using Historical factors. One of the biggest points use was the fact that African Americans were put through years and decades of slavery. This although may not have been the individuals during the time period, but the black community was still put at a disadvantage. Keeping these 16 opened spots would be similar to reperations. As well as this, African American families and those of minority dissent were. The case of Little Rock Nine was also brought up because it was a prime example of African American families being put at a disadvantage during their educational journey. Finally, the historical segregation that African Americans were put through also gave them a disadvantage. Many black families were not given the same opportunities as the suffered through segregation. They had less money and education so saving these spots was only fair.
All in all, the case was a great success, and both sides had very strong points to prove. Without this historical case, college admission processes would not be where they were today. Instead it would have been a scramble and every university would have done their own thing.
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