The records of Academics for Affirmative Action and Social Justice (AAASJ) cover the period 1997-2000, and contain administrative information about the organization such as correspondence, records of events, newsletters, and statements.
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence (including printouts of email) between the founders of AAASJ, Nadia Kim and Tom Guglielmo, and members of the organization. Most of the correspondence contains details regarding meetings, events and news related to affirmative action. The record group also contains information regarding events sponsored by AAASJ like debates and rallies.
AAASJ published a newsletter titled Veritas, with information about affirmative action and the organization's position on the University of Michigan's admissions policies. The record group contains newsletters covering the period 1998-1999. A VHS videotape of the panel session It's All About Mike is also include in this collection. The session, which took place on January 27, 2000, was a debate about affirmative action between members of AAASJ and the Michigan Review.
Academics for Affirmative Action and Social Justice (AAASJ), a multi-racial coalition of University of Michigan students, faculty and staff, was established in 1997 to defend affirmative action through the education and mobilization of the university community. It was founded as a consequence of the lawsuits filed in 1997 challenging the University of Michigan's affirmative action admissions policies. The lawsuits (Grutter v. Bollinger, et al and Gratz and Hamacher v. Bollinger, et al) were ultimately heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003.
Founded by graduate students Nadia Kim and Tom Guglielmo, AAASJ's stated goals were: defend affirmative action; enlighten the community through education and action about the significance of race and the prevalence of racism and other forms of social injustice; and support the University of Michigan administration's defense of affirmative action policies while also encouraging improvement of those policies.
