Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: March 13, 1998

UT System News Release

Regents Choose to Appeal Hopwood Case

ODESSA - The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System chose Wednesday (May 13) to appeal the Hopwood case on behalf of the University of Texas and to request that Texas Attorney General Dan Morales authorize the University to retain outside counsel to handle the appeal.

Donald L. Evans, chairman of the board, stated: "The Board of Regents has a fiduciary obligation to do all in its power to seek to restore to the University of Texas System the ability to operate under the same interpretation of the United States Constitution as higher education institutions in other states in the country. Today that is not the case. If the Hopwood injunction is not challenged, all universities and colleges in the State of Texas will continue to be at a debilitating disadvantage in the recruitment of students until that unknown date in the future when theses issues might be resolved in another case before the Supreme Court. An early decision by the Supreme Court in the Hopwood case would bring needed clarity, uniformity, and finality to this important issue, and it would permit Texas colleges and universities to compete at a much earlier time on a level playing field."

Evans stated: "The board's unanimous decision to request appeal was based on the overriding importance of a single uniform and lasting constitutional standard applicable to all public universities within the United States. It is on this basis that the board unanimously agrees that an appeal is in the best interest of the people of Texas, The University of Texas System, and other Texas institutions of higher education."

Chancellor William H. Cunningham said, "Texas will soon be a majority/minority state. The long-term social, cultural, and economic vitality of Texas is irrevocably linked to its ability to recruit and graduate minority students. While families and the public school system share the major role in the process of preparing students to enter college, institutions of higher education must recognize their responsibility to recruit and graduate Texans from all ethnic backgrounds.

"All of the institutions within The University of Texas System are and must remain highly focused on expanding the use of existing admission, recruitment, outreach and retention programs, as well as adopting new and more creative strategies, to help ensure that all qualified college applicants in the State of Texas have an opportunity to attend college," Cunningham said.

The firm of Vinson and Elkins, a Houston law firm with offices in Austin, has represented U. T. on a pro bono basis in the Hopwood case, and has expressed a willingness to continue in that role. The request of the Attorney General will seek approval for the firm to continue its representation of the University.