Voters in Michigan passed a proposal banning affirmative action in November 2006. The proposal received its primary campaigning from Ward Connerly, who said it could have repercussions during the 2008 elections.

Connerly, founder and chair of the American Civil Rights Institute, said in an editorial for the National Review Online he plans to encourage the electorate in several states to vote on the topic of affirmative action.

According to the the National Review Online, it is a Web site for Republican conservative news, commentary and opinion.

Fred Hord, director of the African American Cultural Center, said in order to achieve equality, somebody has to pay the price for not setting the United States up with equity in the first place.

“You create a system of slavery, segregation and institutional sexism among other things, and you create that and people benefit,” he said. “If you’re ever are going to turn it around, it’s going to cost somebody, I mean — it cost a whole lot of people to put it in place.”

According to Hord, students need to understand the history of affirmative action before forming opinions on the controversial topic.

Hord said schools need to help students put affirmative action into a historical context to decrease the immediate emotional reaction most students feel when faced with the topic.

He said this will create a more composed, informed position where students can decide whether and how to maintain affirmative action.

“I would challenge students who find it difficult to think about it, and who may say, ‘Well, I think we ought follow suit with what the voters in Michigan did.’ I would challenge them to learn the historical backdrop,” he said.

Hord discussed the possible effects the Michigan case could have on North Carolina voters.

According to Hord, Ward Connerly has a lot of conservative black sympathizers who are probably against affirmative action because they believe it feeds the image of black intellectual inferiority.

“[However,] I think they’re smart enough to understand what it means if you have a group that has been held back for a number of years and you say, ‘OK, you can run now and presume it’s going to be a fair race,'” he said.

Hord, who moved to North Carolina from Illinois in 2005, said the history of North Carolina could cause voters to go either way.

“So much that has been progressive regarding African-American struggle has happened here, and so much negative has [also] happened here,” he said.

Hord said it will be interesting to watch local politicians discuss the controversial issue of affirmative action and note the effects on the University.

“It is a sentiment out there that if that sentiment grows it could affect any institution, including NCSU,” he said.

Kelsey Gregory, a freshman in biological sciences, said she doesn’t always agree with affirmative action. She said schools should not necessarily be required to include a certain number of minority students in their admission processes.

“I don’t think if it’s between a girl and a guy and the guy has a better everything … the guy should get it; it shouldn’t be the girl just because of [gender],” she said.

Katie Trozzo, a freshman in environmental technology, said she stays undecided about affirmative action most of the time.

Trozzo said affirmative action is not always fair to some applicants who work hard but may be white males or another majority group.

However, she said she understands cases where affirmative action may be genuinely beneficial, such as when applicants aren’t presented with the same opportunities to work hard.

“It’s a hard call for me, at least, to say either way,” she said.

According to Gina Bressani, a freshman in engineering, she said universities should definitely choose students solely based on their qualifications. She said they should not even ask for race and gender on the application.

Raven Jones, a freshman in industrial and systems engineering, said affirmative action is important to increasing and maintaining diversity in campus environments, which, in turn, yields different opinions.

“Why would you take out affirmative action?” she asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”