mr. connerly. >> thank you for inviting me. i was very impressed by the report, as well as your presentation. i recall very distinctly when i graduated from college in 1962 -- the anxiety that i had about entering the work force, wondering whether i would be given a fair chance to apply and be hired. a year later, affirmative action came along and the anxiety that i had was quieted substantially because i thought that i would get that fair chance. that same anxiety is there today for a large number of students to sense the demise of race- based affirmative action, so i think it is fitting that the century foundation released this document to kind of quiet people who are wondering about where we go from here. make no mistake, it is not an across-the-board substitute. many will tell you that there is no substitute for using the more direct route of race. having served a 12-year sentence on the board of regents, i can tell you that many of my former colleagues certainly believe that there is no direct substitute. clearly race is a

mr. connerly. >> thank you for inviting me. i was very impressed by the report, as well as your presentation. i recall very distinctly when i graduated from college in 1962 -- the anxiety that i had about entering the work force, wondering whether i would be given a fair chance to apply and be hired. a year later, affirmative action came along and the anxiety that i had was quieted substantially because i thought that i would get that fair chance. that same anxiety is there today for a large number of students to sense the demise of race-based affirmative action, so i think it is fitting that the century foundation released this document to kind of quiet people who are wondering about where we go from here. make no mistake, it is not an across-the-board substitute. many will tell you that there is no substitute for using the more direct route of race. having served a 12-year sentence on the board of regents, i can tell you that many of my former colleagues certainly believe that there is no direct substitute. clearly race is a

mr. ward connerly has said. it is not an across-the-board substitute. he makes that argument for a different reason. i say, we need not blow up the bridge in order to do more for socioeconomic disadvantage and also the continuing racial cleavages and our educational system in our housing system, and opportunities to jobs and the like. all of these things shape that pathway. a visible path and opportunity and what our colleges represent. so that is one core concern that i have. i take your point that at least some colleges have not done a great job of doing the socio-economic peace, and to that i say, let's have that conversation, let's have the conversation about doing more, and one important factor is the cost of college, which is part of a broader conversation. there needs to be a way to get there, and i think it is multi cheered. the balance that i see in the way of socioeconomic disadvantage, for some people it is too hard to get there from here to mind if you're thinking about coming from humble circumstances, even if there are loans or other thing