Stepping into a key affirmative action fight, President Bush said that his administration would join a Supreme Court challenge to a University of Michigan admissions policy that gives preference to minority students.

Mr. Bush denounced the Michigan policy as "fundamentally flawed" and unconstitutional. The program "amounts to a quota system that unfairly rewards or penalizes prospective students solely on their race," Mr. Bush said in announcing that his administration would file a legal brief in the case with the Supreme Court.

"I strongly support diversity of all kinds, including racial diversity in higher education," Mr. Bush said at the White House. But he added, "The method used by the University of Michigan to achieve this goal is fundamentally flawed."


(Source: cbsnews.com)