Affirmative action extension granted

A federal judge in Detroit ruled that the state’s top universities can continue using race and gender in their admissions decisions for next year’s incoming students, despite a voter-approved ban on affirmative action that was supposed to take effect this weekend.

U.S. District Judge David Lawson acted at the request of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. The schools said it would be too disruptive to do away with affirmative action immediately because they have already begun accepting students for fall 2007.

The judge gave the universities until July 1 to follow the new rules.