WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has struck down affirmative action in college admissions, forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
“The student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual, not on the basis of race,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote Thursday.
It’s been nine years since a group of students sued UNC Chapel Hill claiming the school gave admissions preference to Black, Hispanic, and Native American students over white and Asian applicants.
UNC says it considers the whole individual and that race is just one factor.
The court sided with those students Thursday deciding the school’s policy violates students’ constitutional right to be treated equally.
Kenny Xu who was at the center of the Harvard affirmative action case applauded the ruling.
“We should be treated on the basis of our merits,” Xu said. “We should be treated on how hard we work or study. Our grades. A name-blind, race-blind process is what I would advocate for.”
“I believe our colleges are stronger when they are racially diverse,” said President Joe Biden after the ruling. “We cannot let this decision be the last word.”
“The Supreme Court decision today was devastating, but truly it is Jim Crow on steroids,” said Corine Mack, the president of the Charlotte NAACP. “That’s what it is.”
Mack blasted the ruling.
“It’s going to be devastating to people of color, specifically Black women and Black men,” she said. “It’s going to be devastating to our children for the next 40 or 50 years.”
California has tried to get around it without success.
Since the state banned racial considerations for college admissions in 1996, the percentage of Black students at its flagship school, UC Berkeley fell by more than half.
During oral arguments in October 2022, attorneys for UNC pointed out that white women are some of the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action and that Asian and white applicants have a higher acceptance rate than Black students.
“The evidence showed that hundreds of white students with lower combined GPAs and SAT scores were admitted ahead of higher-performing Black students, LatinX students,” said David Hinojosa, an attorney for students supporting affirmative action.
The court’s first Black female justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote in her dissent: “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. And having so detached itself from this country’s actual past and present experiences, the court has now been lured into interfering with the crucial work that UNC and other institutions of higher learning are doing to solve America’s real-world problems.”
North Carolina experts on affirmative action, including Raleigh-area civil rights attorney Elizabeth Haddix said the ruling failed to address the Legacy Provision that often benefits white students while creating barriers for minority ones.
“Even though that Legacy Provision is rooted in segregation because Black students were not allowed to attend these institutions years ago,” Haddix said.
Haddix doesn’t agree that affirmative action is no longer needed.
“We still see a marked difference between what white people can achieve and what Black people can achieve and that’s just data,” Haddix said.
Colleges across the nation are questioning how to move forward, including at the nation’s service academies.
An attorney for the federal government testified that it’s not currently possible to achieve diversity in the military’s officer corps without factoring race into admissions.
Prospective college students across the country have voiced their opinions.
>>What comes next for college admissions?
“We shouldn’t be judging students based on their race when deciding who gets into which schools,” said Alex Shieh, a prospective college student.
“I definitely think that colleges will find a way to scoot around it,” said Madison Washington, a prospective UNC Charlotte student. “I don’t think it’ll change much.”
UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz shared the following statement with ABC News in response to the Supreme Court’s decision:
“Carolina remains firmly committed to bringing together talented students with different perspectives and life experiences and continues to make an affordable, high-quality education accessible to the people of North Carolina and beyond. While not the outcome we hoped for, we will carefully review the Supreme Court’s decision and take any steps necessary to comply with the law.”
VIDEO: Supreme Court rejects affirmative action, limits race as factor in college admissions
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