College Admissions Case: Supreme Court Can End Racial Discrimination

The United States Supreme Court has an opportunity to undo a grave injustice of its own making: racial discrimination in college admissions.

Today, the Court will hear arguments in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and SFFA v. University of North Carolina, cases challenging the Court’s 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger. The Court has ruled that institutions cannot use racial preferences to remedy historic societal discrimination, “create a level playing field,” or racially balance student bodies. The only way colleges may use race in admissions is to promote “diversity” — having students of different races on campus to provide manifold views. Thus, in Grutter, the Court held race can be used to promote “diversity” provided race is only one factor in a “holistic, multi-factor” evaluation, is time-limited, and does not involve quotas or racial balancing.

JD

About the Author

John B. Daukas

John B. Daukas is a former acting assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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The United States Supreme Court has an opportunity to undo a grave injustice of its own making: racial discrimination in college admissions.

Today, the Court will hear arguments in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and SFFA v. University of North Carolina, cases challenging the Court’s 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger. The Court has ruled that institutions cannot use racial preferences to remedy historic societal discrimination, “create a level playing field,” or racially balance student bodies. The only way colleges may use race in admissions is to promote “diversity” — having students of different races on campus to provide manifold views. Thus, in Grutter, the Court held race can be used to promote “diversity” provided race is only one factor in a “holistic, multi-factor” evaluation, is time-limited, and does not involve quotas or racial balancing.