 Following the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings on June 23, 2003, Cohen, Gratz, Grutter, and others were among those who invited Ward Connerly to Michigan, where he appeared in a July 8, 2003, speech on the Michigan campus announcing the formation of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), to forbid preference by race or nationality in the state.This became Proposition 2 (06-2) in Michigan, appearing on the November 8, 2006, ballot.Cohen was a leading spokesperson for Proposition 2 in a heated electoral campaign.