US Supreme Court guts use of race as a determinant in college admissions
- Ruling is 6-3 in case involving programmes at Harvard and University of North Carolina, upending precedents that supported a role for race in applications
- US President Joe Biden says ‘I strongly, strongly disagree’ with the decision and that universities should not abandon their commitment to diverse student bodies
The United States Supreme Court struck down admissions programmes at Harvard and the University of North Carolina that used race as a determinant on Thursday, saying they violated the US Constitution’s equal protection clause.
The court considered two cases brought by the advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA): one against Harvard, the nation’s oldest private university, the other against the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest public university. The practice at the heart of these cases is known as affirmative action, a preference of access given to underprivileged and under-represented groups, usually based on racial identity.
Both the Harvard and UNC cases centred on whether institutions of higher education could use race as a factor in admissions. The case against Harvard also asked whether the university intentionally discriminated against Asian-Americans in its current “race-conscious” admissions process.
The court, in a 6-3 ruling, found that the two schools violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.