The case of Defunis vs. Odegaard brought, for the first time, the use of affirmative action policies in university admissions to the national forefront. When Marco Defunis, a Sephardic Jew, brought suit against the University of Washington Law School, claiming that they had “favored” minority applicants above himself, the Jewish community found themselves in an incredibly tenuous situation. This paper examines not only how the Jewish community was itself divided by concerns regarding Jewish self-interest, but also how the Jewish community’s decision to become involved in the case created discord between themselves and the African American community.

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