The group argued that the Constitution forbids the use of race in college admissions and called for overturning earlier Supreme Court decisions that said otherwise. The affirmative action cases were brought by conservative activist Edward Blum, who also was behind an earlier challenge against the University of Texas as well as the case that led the court in 2013 to end use of a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act.īlum formed Students for Fair Admissions, which filed the lawsuits against both schools in 2014.
The justices earlier in June decided a voting rights case in favor of Black voters in Alabama and rejected a race-based challenge to a Native American child protection law. Among the nine justices are four women, two Black people and a Latina. The college admissions disputes were among several high-profile cases focused on race in America, and were weighed by the conservative-dominated, but most diverse court ever. Lower courts also had upheld the programs at both UNC and Harvard, rejecting claims that the schools discriminated against white and Asian American applicants. At arguments in late October, all six conservative justices expressed doubts about the practice, which had been upheld under Supreme Court decisions reaching back to 1978. The Supreme Court had twice upheld race-conscious college admissions programs in the past 20 years, including as recently as 2016.īut that was before the three Trump appointees joined the court.
Now it’s up to all of us to give young people the opportunities they deserve - and help students everywhere benefit from new perspectives.”
Obama said in a statement that affirmative action “allowed generations of students like Michelle and me to prove we belonged. People with extraordinary ability and everything else necessary for success, including future greatness for our Country, are finally being rewarded,” Trump, the current Republican presidential frontrunner, wrote on his social media network. The decision marked “a great day for America. “The law may change, but Rice’s commitment to diversity will not,” he said in a campus message.įormer Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama offered starkly different takes on the high court ruling. President Reginald DesRoches of Rice University in Houston said he was “greatly disappointed” by the decision but “more resolute than ever” to pursue diversity. “Harvard will continue to be a vibrant community whose members come from all walks of life, all over the world,” school President Lawrence Bacow said in a statement. Many said they were still assessing the impact but would follow federal law. Presidents of many colleges quickly issued statements affirming their commitment to diversity regardless of the court’s decision. In fact, an applicant for admission still can write about, and colleges can consider, “how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise,” Roberts wrote.īut the institutions “may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today,” he wrote. Biden, who quickly stepped before cameras at the White House, said of the nation’s colleges: “They should not abandon their commitment to ensure student bodies of diverse backgrounds and experience that reflect all of America,” He said colleges should evaluate “adversity overcome” by candidates.
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