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AT THE University of Texas Law School, the halls are whiter than they once were. Three years after a federal court ruled in Hopwood v Texas that public universities in the state could no longer use race as a factor when considering applicants, there are a mere eight black students in a firstyear class of 455 at the law school, a smaller percentage than in 1950. On March 8th, angry students pounded the walls while Ward Connerly, the driving force behind the demise of affirmative action in California, was inside making a speech as part of his national campaign. Much to the chagrin of the student demonstrators, Mr Connerly's drive is gathering momentum.
Although Texas is ground zero in the fight over racial preferences in American universities, it is far from the only battlefield. Last November, voters in Washington state passed a referendum similar to California's Proposition 209, banning racial preferences in college admissions. In both Washington and Michigan, lawsuits similar to the Texas case have been filed against the public universities. The conservative public law firm that brought those suits recently sent out a handbook to students at elite universities, a step-by-step guide to suing colleges for "illegal racial preferences". Aspiring lawyers will doubtless seize on...