About Us

The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles (CRP) is co-directed by Gary Orfield and Patricia Gándara, professors at UCLA, and housed in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. Founded in 1996 at Harvard University by Orfield and Christopher Edley, the CRP’s mission is to create a new generation of research in social science and law on the critical issues of civil rights and equal opportunity for racial and ethnic groups in the United States.  It has commissioned more than 400 studies, published more than 25 books and issued numerous reports from authors at universities and research centers across the country. The Supreme Court, in its 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision upholding affirmative action, and in Justice Breyer’s dissent (joined by three other Justices) to its 2007 Parents Involved in Community Schools decision, cited the Civil Rights Project’s research.

Read more about the historical origins and mission of the Civil Rights Project.