The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) represented three white applicants who brought the two lawsuits, "Gratz, et al., v Bollinger, et al., No. 97-75231 (E.D.Mich.)" and "Grutter, et al. v. Bollinger, et al., No. 97-75928 (E.D. Mich.)," against the University of Michigan. These lawsuits challenge as unlawful the University of Michigan's policy of considering race as one of many factors in the process for admissions to the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, and the Law School. The University of Michigan brought together a team of leading scholars to serve as its experts in these cases to establish the basis for the University's argument that there is a compelling need for diversity in higher education. Thomas Sugrue of the University of Pennsylvania describes the important role that race continues to play in modern American society. Eric Foner of Columbia University (New York) describes the history of race relations through the lens of the