AAAS President-Elect Calls on Nation
to Recognize Talent of "New Majority"

Shirley A. Jackson, President of the Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute and President-Elect of AAAS, responded today to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding Affirmative Action.

In a statement posted on the RPI Web site, Jackson called the Affirmative Action debate, "a red herring."

"It allows stereotypes about race to cloud our national dialogue while simultaneously ignoring the importance of mining the talent that exists within traditionally underrepresented groups," Jackson said. "This talent resides in a new majority, comprised of young women, minority youth, and young people with disabilities. Taken together, they account for the 'underrepresented majority,' who should be given opportunities to learn and to excel in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology."

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in two separate cases that minority students who apply to public universities can be given an advantage, but set limits on the extent to which institutions can consider race when deciding whom to accept.

Read Jackson's full statement on www.rpi.edu.

For more information on Jackson, please read the following:

• The New Role of S&T Leaders: Shirley Ann Jackson Presents Carey Lecture at AAAS Colloquium on Science and Technology Policy
• AAAS News & Notes article (second item)

Editor's note: Media, please note — AAAS President-Elect Shirley A. Jackson, AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner, and AAAS Education and Human Resources Directorate head Shirley Malcom can be reached for interviews by contacting Monica Amarelo or Carol Hoy at +1 202 326 6440.

—Coimbra Sirica

23 June 2003