Law Professor David Oppenheimer discusses his journey from skeptic to admirer when it comes to diversity and the implications of the current backlash against the idea. He also points out that diversity is not synonymous with “affirmative action” or reaching a “quota.”
Oppenheimer’s research shows that diversifying groups for greater success is an old and successful institutional game plan. In fact, he says that the recently maligned diversity principle was a core tenet of the first modern research university, founded in Germany in 1810.
In 1869, Harvard University’s admission of students from marginalized communities also helped launch it toward being a storied center of learning. His book, The Diversity Principle: The Story of a Transformative Idea, traces the notion’s deep roots from Europe to Harvard to diversity scholarship that informed monumental Supreme Court decisions.
Oppenheimer teaches Civil Procedure, Evidence, and Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law at the UC Berkeley Law and serves as the faculty co-director of the Pro Bono Program and the director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-discrimination Law
