Nineteen state legislators asked the state attorney general Wednesday for a formal opinion on the legality of using race and ethnicity as factors in University of Wisconsin admissions decisions. Two Republicans, state Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, and state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, spearheaded the effort of writing a letter to Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen seeking his judgment. The UW System Board of Regents passed a revised admissions policy earlier this month allowing race to be one of several non-academic factors in admissions decisions. The policy is set to go in effect this fall at all 26 UW campuses. A similar policy has been in place at UW-Madison for the past 12 years. According to the letter, the admissions policy violates Wisconsin law, specifically state statue 36.11 (3)(a), which states, "No sectarian or partisan tests or any tests based upon race … shall ever be allowed in the admission of students." Nass said the legislators who signed the letter clearly share his belief that the regents' admissions policy conflicts with state statue. "It is troubling that the university is using racial profiling in admissions," said Nass, who chairs the Assembly Committee of Colleges and Universities. "The legislators recognize and share my concern that students will be rejected for other factors besides their GPA and ACT scores." Nass said there is an additional problem with the policy, adding students no longer know what to put on their applications since the Board of Regents has yet to define for students what non-academic considerations such as "special talents" and "motivation" mean. "Parents can no longer tell their children that working hard and getting good grades will enable them to attend college," Nass said. State Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, who serves on the Assembly Committee of Colleges and Universities with Nass, said he did not sign the letter because he does not believe the admissions policy violates the state statue. Hintz said he believes the policy does not discriminate based on race, and instead merely uses race as one admissions factor. Hintz added the policy matches the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, which gave the University of Michigan the ability to allow race to be a factor in admissions. "They're submitting a letter to the attorney general to get a more facialized headline," Hintz said. "This detracts us from improving the university system." Hintz said every minute legislators spend on debating the policy is less time they have to devote to important educational issues such as financial aid and working toward making college more affordable. "We are hopeful that we continue to have administrators at the university level who will make the right decisions rather than have legislators use policy to micro-manage the university," Hintz said. Hintz added he understands legislators — including himself — want to ensure the state is making wise use of tax dollars given the tight budget restrictions. However, Hintz added running a "tight ship" is one thing, but these types of headlines distract the legislators from what is important. Nass said the attorney general would take up this issue at his earliest convenience, and he hopes for a response in the near future.