FIRE's latest case centers on Arizona State, which is presently offering two "rainbow sections"--ASU's word, not mine--of freshman composition for Native Americans only:

TEMPE, Ariz., October 5, 2005--State-sponsored racial segregation has found a home at Arizona State University (ASU). ASU's ironically named "Rainbow Sections" of English 101 and 102 have been advertised on flyers and on the university's website as being open to "Native Americans only."

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has written to the university to demand that the classes be opened to all students. Shockingly, this marks the second time in less than four years that FIRE has been forced to protest a racially segregated course at ASU.

"It is appalling that ASU would resurrect segregated classes five decades after Brown v. Board of Education," stated David French, president of FIRE. "The idea that a class can be 'separate but equal' was discredited long ago."

The "Rainbow Sections" of English 101 and 102, ASU's freshman composition courses, were advertised as "restricted to Native Americans only" on the faculty webpage of Professor G. Lynn Nelson, the course instructor. A flyer addressed to "Native American Students" states that they "are invited to enroll in special Native American sections of ENG 101 and 102." It also discusses some of the differences between the special sections and the "standard First Year Composition classes," making it clear that the special sections offer a different educational experience.

"These sections don't allow non-Native American students to be part of the unique learning experience they provide," remarked Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "If ASU believes that some Native Americans may benefit from a different kind of writing course, surely the same goes for students of other backgrounds."

UPDATE: ASU has told the "rainbow sections" professor that he may not limit enrollment in his classes to Native Americans.

I;m a big supporter of FIRE, but they may have overplayed this a little. We have specific sections for different classes of students but to-be-sure, we don’t do it by gender or race. We do it by program or by skill level. And even the AAUP has slammed Berkeley for having an ideological entry requirement for a clearly politically-oriented lit course. That said, students in a rainbow section would have plenty of opportunities for broad-based socializing in other freshman and service classes. I don’t have that much of a problem if the students are simply writing on their experiences growing up as Native Americans. And I can also very much sympathize with program and enrolment officers wanting to make sure that Native Americans aren’t boxed out of a NA history course because white Birkenstockers filled the course. ASU may have over-steered a little here, but I don’t see a major foul being committed as was done in the Berkeley case.

But the important thing here is the quality of the education the students are getting. Has anything been presented on the real and written-down rubrics for these sections (syllabi and such)? For my benefit, would a student enrolled in a “rainbow section” be or develop into as competent a technical writer as a similar student from an “integrated” section. According to their catalog these are what we quantoids, geeks and borgs liken to the warm fuzzies (with the second one maybe starting the student in preparing for Tech Com). I tend to write these classes off in general as where they start getting their PC in-class orientation – sorry “dispositional rubrics” (no offense, Erin, but that’s where mine started back in the 80s), and there isn’t much we science and engineering profs can do about it. Our F/A earnings that go to English and writing departments come back to us when they take Tech Com.

My main concerns for such sections is 1) is the quality going to be as rigid as in other sections. And more importantly, 2) is this going to be a class where “program poaching” occurs. (And let’s be honest, every 100-level class taught in any non-service or service department that is part of the general ed core, can be turned into a recruiting tool). If the latter becomes the case, *I* want a rainbow section of my very own so I can get back my recruits and poach a few new freshies for my own corner of the dark side!

"ASU may have over-steered a little here, but I don’t see a major foul being committed... ."

You've got to be kidding, right? A public educational institution explicitly segregating classes by race isn't a "major foul"?

"...the important thing here is the quality of the education the students are getting."

Separate but equal, yes?

Well before discussing this particular headcase (since illuminated in gory detail above in Erin’s second post) …

Yes, legally we cannot as public schools "segregate" classes as described here. And I am not happy with these types of sections... But we segregate classes all the time, by prerequisites, program and yes, at times by gender. (For example, a woman's self defense class that would satisfy a PE requirement - sorry I wouldn't let any fella's in there - does that mean separate but unequal? Not really.) Additionally I am aware of one of two profs who turn their "minority advising" classes into critical skills Boot Camp - heck, I'd send some of my rural or otherwise lacking Anglo students in their direction where I could.

And now some yummy crow…

But *this* guy…. Uh… ain’t one of ‘em. Indeed, I know some profs who specialize in minority student advising and support who would probably want to get access to the underside of his car! And most of these people are engineers who understand that inertia is not a tool by the ruling class to subjugate The Other.

The only good side if this is that, they are not forcing NAs into these sections, they are "encouraged" to attend. If I were advising NA freshmen, I doubt I’d be stopped from advising them into sections I felt would best prepare the student for Technical Communications. If any prof in the English department told me otherwise, I'd send 'em out of my office carrying their arse in a bucket (pardon my -- err --- French), and I have no doubt that my dean and chair would be behind me. After all, at the end of the day, it's my job and responsibility to get those kids, graduated and holding a marketable transcript & vita, not a cuddle commando.