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The first accession of The Gratz v. Bollinger, et al. series, 1997-2001 (4 feet, boxes 14-17) is comprised mainly of court documents and expert reports. Additional materials in the Gratz and Hamacher v. Bollinger, et al. received in 2008, (4 linear feet, boxes 22-26), further document the university's actions in the case and include legal petitions, motions, and memoranda; experts' reports; amici briefs; and judicial decisions and opinions, including those regarding the case settlement and dismissal.

The News Media series, 1995-2003 (2 linear feet) consists of articles, editorials and electronic mail communications. The series provides a glimpse of the media attention the two lawsuits attracted across the country. The articles and editorials are clippings on the affirmative action lawsuits from newspapers and journals from across the United States. The articles and editorials include newspaper clippings (photocopy), print-outs from webpages, and press releases (photocopy). Included in the series is a copy of Newsweek magazine January 27, 2003 which featured the affirmative action lawsuits as the cover story. The electronic mail communications are print-outs of communications sent either from University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman or from the Office of Media Relations and Public Affairs. The electronic mail communications were targeted messages to the university community. The communications date from December 2002 to June 2003.

The News Media series also includes a selection of actual copies of newspapers and articles for significant events. Dates are scattered but include copies of area newspapers for June 24, 2003--the day after the Supreme Court decision. The series includes a paper copy of the official Press Kit dated March 2003 created by the university's Media Relations and Public Affairs office (note that a digital copy of the Press Kit for selected dates can be found in the Archived Website series). Lastly, the series includes a paper copy of the complete transcript from the oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 1, 2003 in Grutter v. Bollinger, et al and Gratz and Hamacher v. Bollinger, et. al. as recorded by Alderson Reporting Co. and published by the Ann Arbor News.

The series is largely the reference file maintained by Julie Peterson, Associate Vice President for Media Relations, University of Michigan, with some additional clippings collected by the University Archives and Records Program staff from a variety of sources.