The future of affirmative action in higher education is on the table as the Supreme Court wades into the admissions programs at the nation’s oldest public and private universities.
The justices are hearing arguments Monday in challenges to policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard that consider race among many factors in evaluating applications for admission.Following the overturning of the nearly 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade in June, the cases offer another test of whether the court now dominated by conservatives will move the law to the right on another of the nation’s most contentious cultural issues.
Lower courts upheld the programs at both UNC and Harvard, rejecting claims that the schools discriminated against white and Asian-American applicants. Colleges and universities can use other, race-neutral ways to assemble a diverse student body, including by focusing on socioeconomic status and eliminating the preference for children of alumni, Students for Fair Admissions argues.
The Biden administration is urging the court to preserve race-conscious admissions. The Trump administration had taken the opposite position in earlier stages of the cases.UNC says its freshman class is about 65% white, 22% Asian American, 10% Black and 10% Hispanic. The numbers add to more than 100% because some students report belonging to more than one category, a school spokesman said.
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