Sotomayor: University of Michigan "needs more blacks"

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Monday said future diversity on college campuses is a key to diversifying society at large, noting that the number of black students at the University of Michigan is a “real problem.”

Sotomayor received an honorary degree and participated in a forum about the future of university communities as part of a series of events this year celebrating the University of Michigan’s bicentennial.

Sotomayor, the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court and daughter of Puerto Rican-born parents, was asked by a moderator what a university will need to look like in the years ahead to be inclusive and innovative.

“It’s going to look a lot like Michigan,” she said to applause, “but with even greater diversity.”