The Supreme Court just struck down affirmative action in higher education. Since the Court agreed to hear the case last fall, university faculties and administrators have amplified student protests in support of their race-based admissions policies. But this has come at a cost: In promoting one-sided student activism, universities have violated their historic commitment to free inquiry and intellectual diversity.
Last fall, as a light Washington drizzle turned into torrential downpour, students standing at the steps of the Supreme Court raised their poster boards reading “Race-Conscious Admissions Are Fair Admissions” and “Asian Americans for Affirmative Action” overhead for protection. Inside, the justices listened to oral arguments in two cases concerning race-based admissions practices, at Harvard and at the University of North Carolina, that had the potential to overturn years of precedent on affirmative action.
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