"Standing on the foundations of America's promise of equal opportunity, our universities purport to "serve as engines of social mobility" and "practitioners of democracy." But as acclaimed scholar and pioneering civil rights advocate Lani Guinier argues, the merit systems that dictate the admissions practices of these institutions are functioning to select and privilege elite individuals rather than create learning communities geared to advance democratic...

This program examines the issue of affirmative action with Lani Guinier, professor of law at the Univ. of Pennsylvania and President Clinton's controversial nominee for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Among the many questions examined in the program are: How do blacks and whites differ in their understanding of affirmative action? Is affirmative action still necessary to remedy past discrimination? What changes, if any, should be made...