An on-campus forum about affirmative action attracted studentsfrom various racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds and ignitedheated discussions Wednesday night.
A panel of representatives from The University of Memphis TigerDemocrats and College Republicans gathered in the Faulkner Loungeof the University Center for "Diversity's Contribution to CampusLife," sponsored by The U of M Pan-Hellenic Council.
The College Republicans took a stand against affirmative action,saying that it is unconstitutional.
"Affirmative action is discrimination, and discrimination iswrong," said Andrew McGarrity, Student Government Associationpresident and president of The U of M College Republicans. "TheConstitution is colorblind."
The Tiger Democrats, on the other hand, said affirmative actionis a necessary and essential part of American society.
"I support affirmative action because there has to be amechanism to counteract negative actions that occur in everydaysociety," said Jason Hillner, president of The U of M TigerDemocrats.
Haweni Keskessa, a senior journalism major, agreed with theDemocratic position.
"If affirmative action is abolished, there has to be analternative policy to help the citizens who don't have a voice,"she said.
Chuck Grimes, vice president of the College Republicans, helddifferent views on the matter. He said race should not be a factorin any decision-making process.
"I would want to be judged based on my grades, character andmerit," he said. "Not on who my grandfather is or the color of myskin."
Affirmative action sends a message from the government tominority groups that they are not capable of succeedingindependently and they need handouts, Grimes said.
Other students were undecided on the issue. Mario Brown, anengineering major at The U of M took a more middle-of-the-roadapproach to the topic.
"I'm for it, but I'm against it," Brown said. "In a perfectworld, we wouldn't need it, and we shouldn't need it today. But wejust don't live in a perfect world."
