Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions, says race cannot be a factor
Last edited Thu Jun 29, 2023, 12:01 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies. The court’s conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest private and public colleges, respectively.
Chief Justice John Roberts said that for too long universities have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
Justice Clarence Thomas, the nation’s second Black justice who had long called for an end to affirmative action, wrote separately that the decision “sees the universities’ admissions policies for what they are: rudderless, race-based preferences designed to ensure a particular racial mix in their entering classes.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.” Both Thomas and Sotomayor, the two justices who have acknowledged affirmative action played a role in their admissions to college and law school, took the unusual step of reading a summary of their opinions aloud in the courtroom.
In a separate dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — the court’s first Black female justice — called the decision “truly a tragedy for us all.” Jackson, who sat out the Harvard case because she had been a member of an advisory governing board, wrote, “With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.” The vote was 6-3 in the North Carolina case and 6-2 in the Harvard case. Justice Elena Kagan was the other dissenter.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-race-f83d6318017ec9b9029b12ee2256e744
Article updated.
Previous articles -
The court's conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively. Chief Justice John Roberts said that for too long universities have "concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual's identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the decision "rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress." In a separate dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson -- the court's first Black female justice -- called the decision "truly a tragedy for us all."
The Supreme Court had twice upheld race-conscious college admissions programs in the past 20 years, including as recently as 2016. But that was before the three appointees of former President Donald Trump joined the court. 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 court's conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively.
Chief Justice John Roberts said that for too long universities have "concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual's identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice."
In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision "rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress."
Original article/headline -
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that colleges and universities must stop considering race in admissions, forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
In a 6-3 decision, the court struck down admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively.
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sl8
(17,109 posts)
lastlib
(28,186 posts)FUCK THE REICH-WINGERS!
JohnSJ
(98,883 posts)the 2016 general election contributed to this
PunkinPi
(5,268 posts)
lapucelle
(21,048 posts)
PunkinPi
(5,268 posts)
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(135,379 posts)JohnSJ
(98,883 posts)one should be surprised by this
Casady1
(2,133 posts)who have every advantage from tutoring to financial resources need apply to college.
groundloop
(13,808 posts)If I'm reading this correctly colleges can still consider the socio-economic background of applicants, so hopefully if a college wanted to do the right thing they'd have that wiggle room at least.
Freethinker65
(11,203 posts)exboyfil
(18,357 posts)Had a friend from high school who was African American and whose father was a doctor. He really didn't need any sort of affirmative action to accomplish his goals (he eventually was a doctor with the CDC before he tragically died a few years ago - a real loss to society).
I was a first generation college student whose family came from the backwoods of West Virginia. I am convinced that I received some level of preferential treatment over in-state Indiana students when I was admitted to Purdue directly into the Engineering program (the 31 on the ACT helped I guess). If I had not made it into Purdue, I would have done perfectly well at Mississippi State (my family lived in Mississippi at the time).
Backseat Driver
(4,671 posts)be "encoded" somehow into essays -- check boxes not needed.
Hey, what's worked to signal all those entitled RW gooses should be good for the ganders looking to join the flock, LOL! Sorry for the embedded b/w "gender" metaphor...
FBaggins
(28,705 posts)The dissent makes this suggestion, and Harvard has already called it part of the ruling, but the majority ruling explicitly rules it out.
Harvard -
The Court also ruled that colleges and universities may consider in admissions decisions “an applicant's discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” We will certainly comply with the Court's decision.
Roberts' opinion
Backseat Driver
(4,671 posts)Supposing those would fall under "or other means" - We attended one of several in which campus visit tour still had a human guide, like a museum docent, and one wore name tags so the guide could "personally" and politely call one by name to answer questions and sell their school.
I recall DH once had a job interview. On shaking hands, DH related afterward, the interviewer blurted out: "You're not Asian"??? SMH...
FBaggins
(28,705 posts)There's nothing in the ruling that says that schools must not gather demographic data. In fact, they're probably required to.
They just can't consider it as part of their admissions determinations.
SunSeeker
(58,240 posts)The University of California has navigated this race-neutral terrain for decades, after a 1996 ballot initiative called Proposition 209 barred the use of race in admissions decisions at public universities. In 2020, voters rejected an effort to reverse the policy. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-ended-affirmative-action-90s-retains-diverse-student-body-rcna91846
It is a pretty good substitute, though not perfect.
deurbano
(2,985 posts)That's such a racket (IMHO), and those travel team coaches can have relationships with coaches at elite schools that provide an advantage in admissions, in addition to the "hook" for playing one of the less mainstream sports valued by elite schools.
Jose Garcia
(3,497 posts)deurbano
(2,985 posts)Asian American students are also impacted by these other "hooks." My kids attended a public high school with very competitive admissions in San Francisco, and some families of very high achieving Asian students (well, the school was 60% Asian) would think their kids could get into elite colleges with high test scores and GPAs alone. The immigrant parents, especially, did not know how to play the "game"... where you ALSO have to have the "hooks" and a personal narrative the schools find appealing. Affluent families have expert guidance (and often experience) in that process, and playing a sport desired by elite colleges is a proven winner.
My younger daughter is Asian (adopted), and still has her original Asian surname, and she managed to get accepted into some fairly elite East Coast colleges (not Ivies or those comparable, since she didn't have the stats for them, and didn't apply), and she was even accepted into an Ivy for grad school in the fall. (She chose USC, though.) If you can figure out what the admissions committees are really looking for (and make sure those bases are covered), that will be an advantage. (And I think, an unfair advantage over kids whose parents don't have the same knowledge or other resources.)
I think some of the elite schools reject qualified Asian students because they don't think they are "well-rounded" from the elite perspective, and don't check certain arbitrary boxes. But a lawsuit (see link below) arguing Harvard had higher admissions standards for Asians didn't get the same result as this lawsuit. In my opinion, it's because those "standards" advantage affluent students, particularly white ones.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/harvard-university-and-scandal-sports-recruitment/599248/
Edited to add: Of course, I also think racism against Asians has played a major role, and in fact, undergirds these "standards" that keep Asians out. Asians significantly outperform other high school students, and elite colleges have not wanted their institutions to become "too" Asian.
SunSeeker
(58,240 posts)But it's expensive to play, like all club sports. It costs $3k-$5k per year in club fees just to be in the club, plus thousands more in travel expenses and equipment. Same with volleyball, swimming, etc.
Torchlight
(6,759 posts)will be its social and legal regressions, as it slowy moves the goals back to 1848.
oldsoftie
(13,538 posts)Asians were most certainly being hampered getting accepted. I think that was proven.
Harvard can easily continue to seek out students from minority communities; maybe they should get off that pile of BILLIONS theyre siting on to pay some tuitions.
jimfields33
(19,382 posts)The Asian population is relatively small but mostly we’re not accepted into various colleges.
dpibel
(3,914 posts)Last edited Thu Jun 29, 2023, 12:17 PM - Edit history (1)
I think you're disinforming.
"Harvard University admitted a record number of Asian American students to its class of 2027..."
"In a breakdown of the incoming class released by the university last week, Harvard revealed that 29.9% of admitted applicants are Asian American. It’s a 2.1% jump from last year’s number."
Asian Americans are about 7% of the population of the US.
former9thward
(33,424 posts)That is what needs to be looked at. Otherwise it is not giving the full picture.
dpibel
(3,914 posts)He is claiming that affirmative action has made it all but impossible for Asians to get admitted.
29% of an entering class gives the lie to that proposition.
Mosby
(19,491 posts)Perhaps setting a higher admissions bar for Asians is a form of discrimination rooted in the "model minority" stereotype. The term implies that all Asians are hard working, financially well off, high-achievers. This image not only neglects the diverse ethnocultural backgrounds of Asian groups, but also attempts to silence Asians regarding their difficulties and discrimination experiences. The truth is most Asians are immigrants who face language struggles while some Asians, such as Vietnamese, Cambodians, Hmongs and Laotians, have high dropout rates from high school and possess a low socioeconomic status (Ngo & Lee, 2007; Lee, 2009). By glorifying Asian success, society denies that discrimination exists and ignores the sacrifices (e.g. family relationships, health issues, etc) that Asians have had to make in order to succeed (Tran & Birman, 2010). Additionally, with the focus on academic success, Asians experience difficulties in expressing their talents in other areas, such as in the sports and entertainment industries (Sue & Okazaki, 1990).
https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/asian-american/article-admission#:~:text=To%20top%20the%20fear%2C%20a,points%20higher%20than%20African%20Americans.
dpibel
(3,914 posts)I made no comment of any kind as to whether anything was earned.
I was simply addressing the false claim in post #22: "The Asian population is relatively small but mostly we’re not accepted into various colleges." And the statement in #24, "Asians will now have a chance of getting accepted."
This is patent nonsense.
29% of the Harvard class is by no definition "mostly we're not accepted into various colleges."
dpibel
(3,914 posts)Good job, Jim Fields.
I should have paid better attention to the source.
madaboutharry
(42,032 posts)There are really no words.
Freethinker65
(11,203 posts)Factor in opportunities affected by socio economics, geography, and strength of pre-college curriculum available to prospective students.
bucolic_frolic
(55,012 posts)Finding latent high achievers is more of a crap shoot than ever.
atreides1
(16,799 posts)If it wasn't for Affirmative Action, Clarence Thomas wouldn't be sitting where he's sitting today!!!
BumRushDaShow
(169,246 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(135,379 posts)Now that he has his he wants to pull up the gangplank behind him.
Bettie
(19,648 posts)can sue if any people who aren't white were accepted.
And, how long until workplace suits come up...my guess is not very long.
jimfields33
(19,382 posts)Asians will now have a chance of getting accepted.
Bettie
(19,648 posts)desire of a certain subset of white people who want segregated...well, everything.
Eh, my kids are at a state school, where most everyone is accepted, nice diverse group, even here in Iowa.
dpibel
(3,914 posts)Last edited Thu Jun 29, 2023, 12:17 PM - Edit history (1)
See Reply 32.
oldsoftie
(13,538 posts)dpibel
(3,914 posts)Just noticed that the subject line font apparently doesn't support the "equals" sign, so I've added the word.
That said, you seem to be confused about how quotation marks work. The words within the quotation marks in the subject lines are what I'm quoting him as saying. That's because those are his words.
What I'm showing, apparently too subtly for some, is that the poster's protestations about deep injury to Asian applicants is a little hard to square with the fact that Harvard, for instance, just admitted more Asians than ever before.
That does not support the poster's position that Asians will now finally have some scant hope of being admitted to the finest universities.
William Seger
(12,422 posts)"Chief Justice John Roberts said that for too long universities have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin."
Bullshit. Universities have concluded, rightly, that the playing field is nowhere near level.
Jrose
(1,531 posts)and refuse to strengthen the bridge to greater opportunities for those who've been historically unable to cross...
have torn the fabric of the American Dream today.
onetexan
(13,913 posts)By oligarchs.
Traildogbob
(13,003 posts)This mean black football and basketball athletes will now have to “compete” with all those great, left out, white athletes for scholarships? Will we see Bama, Georgia et al start fielding more white players equally since those black ones were affirmative action results taking away white opportunities? (Do I need sarcasm emoji)
melm00se
(5,159 posts)says:
And a reading of that cuts both ways.
A person can neither be rewarded or punished based upon their race.
Laws say what they say and despite sometimes creating distasteful situations, laws can't be twisted to say what people want it to say.
FBaggins
(28,705 posts)Gorsuch's concurrence makes more of it than the majority tries to, but the dissent doesn't argue that it "cuts both ways" - merely that the existing precedents say that Harvard's policies don't contradict it.
SpankMe
(3,711 posts)But, you may discriminate against a gay dude in retail service. I'll never be able to figure out right wing logic.
I get that there may be some unfairness toward majority races in affirmative action protocols. But, affirmative action is a part of a reparation process, as I see it, that seeks to make corrections today for wrongs of the past. It's an acceptable short term imbalance designed to correct a long term pattern of discrimination.
They'll just have to go with using economic background instead of race, since race and economic disadvantage are linked.
Casady1
(2,133 posts)at most schools get an advantage. UGA will make exceptions for rural students so the school body will be diverse. They want rural and urban students. Yale and the Ivy's do the same thing. If UGA did only scores UGA would almost entirely be a suburban Atlanta university where the students have access to tutored SAT preparation.
Jrose
(1,531 posts)Women's reproductive rights have been slashed.
The rights of people of color to catch up educationally and economically with historically favored White people have been slashed.
The rights of LGBTQ people to assert who they are and love who they love have been slashed.
DjT and his loyal, hateful Repubs... or American democracy, which is only upheld by the other party.
VOTE '24, and beyond.
IronLionZion
(51,195 posts)until I steal your college spots too. 
This is not going to turn out the way racist idiots expect it to turn out. No one is ready for the tsunami of Asians coming. 
ananda
(35,068 posts)Red states are already going after college content, making
it unsafe or unaffordable for colleges to create or teach
anything related to race or diversity.
This is a very bad business.
Jilly_in_VA
(14,344 posts)how would Uncle Clarence be where he is? Riddle me THAT!
Tennessee Hillbilly
(693 posts)Link to tweet
?s=20
mackdaddy
(1,971 posts)Some one mentioned this as at least something that would help actually equalize the admission process. This would make rich mostly white students (like W) have to at least compete with people from lower economic classes or of color that do well in grades have a better chance of getting in to the college.
Calista241
(5,633 posts)Eliminating Alumni status could have a significant downside that some colleges don't want to risk.
jcmaine72
(1,843 posts)by such inclusive admissions policies, but there had to be a better way than this. This SCOTUS is tainted and illegitimate. They don't represent the nation we are today, but rather the one that we were in 1960. The SCOTUS needs to be either expanded or abolished. There's no other way to stop this runaway freight train of arbitrary justice and bigotry.
no_hypocrisy
(54,864 posts)Last edited Thu Jun 29, 2023, 09:14 PM - Edit history (1)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regents_of_the_University_of_California_v._Bakkecstanleytech
(28,454 posts)You can get a rather diverse number of people that way.
oldsoftie
(13,538 posts)cstanleytech
(28,454 posts)of at least 30% that come from households below 60k a year.
oldsoftie
(13,538 posts)Never understood the fascination with getting an "Ivy League" degree anyway; it doesnt guarantee success anymore than another decent school
cstanleytech
(28,454 posts)another benefit that you are overlooking which is it could help influence the affluent students in the future so that they treat people they might employee better.
oldsoftie
(13,538 posts)Why are we worried about "student loans" when they could easily pay for low income students. And MUCh more. They want the illusion of "prestige" and people fall for it. Just like with so many other things in society
Mosby
(19,491 posts)I think there is an ivy league school that stopped charging tuition all together because their endowment is so large, Harvard should consider that.
llashram
(6,269 posts)women back in their place please from 1hundred years ago, people of colour especially African Americans, back of the bus again..please. Yes, the please is new in reflecting the change of decades of fairness/diversity to again a kinder, gentler
racist white male rule with their Clarence uncle-toms and the women who cheered giving their choices on their bodies back to the male, white males of the reichwing especially.
I'm disgusted with Amerikkka's last president. You don't think Stephen Miller, billion-dollar Jarad and his wife are cheering today?
Many here like I, are not surprised at this. That's all I know.
mahatmakanejeeves
(69,605 posts)Wed May 31, 2023: Elite High School's Admissions Plan May Face Supreme Court Test
Hat tip, SCOTUSblog
The morning read for Wednesday, May 31
By SCOTUSblog
on May 31, 2023 at 10:32 am
Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles, commentary, and other noteworthy links related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Wednesday morning read:
• US Supreme Court spurns ex-Shkreli lawyer Greebel’s challenge to prosecutors (Mike Scarcella, Reuters)
• What the Supreme Court’s ruling means for the future of wetlands (Lyric Aquino, Grist)
• Elite High School’s Admissions Plan May Face Supreme Court Test (Adam Liptak, The New York Times)
• The Urgent Warning That Got Cut From a Supreme Court Opinion 20 Years Ago (Richard L. Hasen, Slate)
• The Supreme Court was enabling corruption well before the Clarence Thomas scandal (Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, The Los Angeles Times)
{snip}
Recommended Citation: SCOTUSblog , The morning read for Wednesday, May 31, SCOTUSblog (May. 31, 2023, 10:32 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/05/the-morning-read-for-wednesday-may-31/
Elite High School’s Admissions Plan May Face Supreme Court Test
The justices will soon rule on race-conscious admissions plans at Harvard and U.N.C. A new appeals court case asks whether schools can use race-neutral tools to achieve racial diversity.
By Adam Liptak
Reporting from Washington
May 29, 2023
In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court is very likely to forbid colleges and universities to use race as a factor in admissions decisions. Indeed, when the cases challenging the admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were argued in October, some justices were already looking at the next question on the horizon: whether admissions officers may promote racial diversity by using race-neutral criteria.
“Your position,” Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh told a lawyer for the challengers, “will put a lot of pressure going forward, if it’s accepted, on what qualifies as race neutral in the first place.” ... That question grew more concrete last week, when a divided three-judge panel of a federal appeals court allowed an elite public high school in Alexandria, Va., to revise its admissions policy by, among other things, eliminating standardized tests and setting aside spots for the top students at every public middle school in the area.
Those changes produced a class with more Black and Hispanic students and many fewer Asian American ones. In a dissent from last week’s decision that seemed to be addressed to the Supreme Court, Judge Allison J. Rushing wrote that the majority had refused “to look past the policy’s neutral varnish” and consider instead “an undisputed racial motivation and an undeniable racial result.”
It is a decent bet that the Supreme Court will agree to hear an appeal in that case and use it to answer questions left open in its coming decisions on the admissions practices of Harvard and U.N.C. ... Those universities take account of race as such. The high school does not. ... Indeed, admissions officers at the school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, known as T.J., are not told the race, sex or name of any applicant.
{snip}
Race, Admissions and the Supreme Court
Conservatives Open New Front in Elite School Admission Wars
Feb. 16, 2022
High School Did Not Discriminate Against Asian American Students, Court Rules
May 23, 2023
Supreme Court Allows Elite High School’s New Admissions Rules
April 25, 2022
Judge Strikes Down Elite Virginia High School’s Admissions Rules
Feb. 25, 2022
Adam Liptak covers the Supreme Court and writes Sidebar, a column on legal developments. A graduate of Yale Law School, he practiced law for 14 years before joining The Times in 2002. @adamliptak • Facebook
LiberalArkie
(19,752 posts)republianmushroom
(22,289 posts)Then there will be a lot of crying and pleading for help. It is going to happen, baby.
Hekate
(100,133 posts)Some of them are possessed by evil.
They still have tomorrow to strike down student loan forgiveness.
Hekate
(100,133 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(135,379 posts)mike_c
(37,045 posts)Affirmative action is baked into the DNA of today's university administrators. That ship isn't going to turn around easily.
Polybius
(21,871 posts)I know they are used to it, but it's illegal.
LenaBaby61
(6,991 posts)To make Amerikkka's colleges all lilly white again .....
Uncle Clarence sure was lucky that he got his Affirmative Action-having Ass in there before he blew up the bridge behind him.
Rhiannon12866
(254,969 posts)
Jrose
(1,531 posts)That achievement has increasingly scared and angered the champions of White supremacy and oligarchy in the U. S.
So it's no surprise that people such as DjT, DeSenseless, most of the Repub party and America's home-grown neo-Nazis, are celebrating AA's demise.
electric_blue68
(26,811 posts)