The commitment to equal opportunity embodied in affirmative action laws, policies and practices in higher education recently has come under attack. Claims that the goals of affirmative action have largely been met are not borne out by data about the reality in Utah or at the University of Utah. The Presidential Commission on the Status of Women urges the University to continue to assure that all qualified people and particularly, all qualified Utahns, are informed about and have access to work, study, programs, activities, and scholarship at the University. The President's Statement on Affirmative Action, the University policies adopted to achieve equity, and the diversity requirement sought and won by students reflect our continuing commitment to an educational community free of bias and reflective of a broad diversity of individuals. 

With this educational commitment in mind, the commission reaffirms that fairness is the principle that should guide access to participation in the academic world and that affirmative action continues to be needed as a vehicle for achieving equal opportunity and a diverse population of students, staff and faculty at the University of Utah. Continuing our support for affirmative action would result in positive long-term effects on the University, the state and those who work and study here by: 

• providing the University with the knowledge and talents of staff and faculty who can contribute to the quality and development of the institution and the quality of work completed here; 

  providing important bodies of human knowledge for the education of our students and; 

  providing University of Utah students with an educational experience representative of the world in which they will live and work in the twenty-first century, thus leaving them culturally and educationally prepared. 

• The economic growth and development of the state of Utah depends on equality of opportunity. The University must play a strong leadership role in promoting and maintaining affirmative action.