Posted on by Randy Slovacek

Supreme Court Strikes Down Affirmative Action At Universities

The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, has found that race-conscious admissions programs (aka 'affirmative action') at the University of North Carolina and Harvard are unconstitutional.
U.S. Supreme Court – Fall 2022 (public domain)

The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, has found that race-conscious admissions programs (aka ‘affirmative action’) at the University of North Carolina and Harvard are unconstitutional.

The decision is certain to reshape (or diminish) diversity at elite schools.

From the New York Times:

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the 6-3 majority, said the two programs “unavoidably employ race in a negative manner” and “involve racial stereotyping,” in a manner that violates the Constitution.

Universities can consider how race has affected a student’s life — a topic they may write about in an application essay, for example — but he warned schools not to use such considerations as a surreptitious means of racial selection. “Universities may not simply establish through the application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today,” he wrote.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor summarized her dissent from the bench — a rare move that signals profound disagreement. The court, she wrote, was “further entrenching racial inequality in education, the very foundation of our democratic government and pluralistic society.”

“The devastating impact of this decision cannot be overstated,” she said.

Following the release of the ruling, President Biden told reporters, “I strongly, strongly disagree with the court’s decision.”

Biden argued that America’s colleges and the nation are stronger when they have greater racial diversity. He added that he was directing the Education Department to analyze what practices could build more diverse student bodies.

The New York Times notes that nine states have already banned the use of race-conscious college admissions at public universities. And what happened?

• Michigan banned race-conscious admissions in 2006 when the percentage of Black students at the University of Michigan was 7 percent. In 2021, that had fallen to 4 percent.

• Following the passage of a 1996 referendum banning race-conscious admissions in California, the number of Black students at the University of California Los Angeles fell from 7 percent (in 1996) to 3.43 percent two years later. Last year, that number rose to 5 percent, notably below the level it had been 25 years ago.

You can follow the updating reporting at the New York Times here.