Supreme Court Considers Affirmative Action Cases

The future of affirmative action in higher education hangs in the balance after the Supreme Court of the United States convened to discuss two cases surrounding Harvard and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on October 31. If the court votes to end the explicit consideration of race within college admissions, schools throughout America could see great changes in student diversity. 

Both cases surround the legality of these universities’ race-conscious admissions practices, which seek to combat racism by allowing colleges to consider applicants’ racial backgrounds and thus create a diverse student body. Challengers consist primarily of the court’s conservative majority and aim to get rid of affirmative action, whereas the democratic minority hopes to uphold it. 

The Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard lawsuit claims that Harvard admissions discriminates against Asian-American applicants, violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The lawsuit is spearheaded by Edward Blum, who is a prominent republican figure known for his campaigns against affirmative action.

The SFFA also has a lawsuit against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, asserting that their race-conscious practices are unfair to white and Asian-American applicants.

Affirmative action has been a heated topic for quite some time now. The Supreme Court has discussed affirmative action cases as early as 1978, when the court first upheld that universities may consider race during the admissions process. However, the makeup of the Supreme Court has changed since then to a conservative majority.

If the court votes to end affirmative action in universities, it would become illegal to consider the race of students during the college admissions process. In this case, the country may see a great decrease in student diversity, changing the future of higher education as we know it.