The Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments on two affirmative action cases — one from Harvard University and one from The University of North Carolina — that could affect how colleges apply race to admissions.
The Supreme Court has recently taken aim at prior court precedents, voting in June to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. With the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, there is uncertaintly about the fate of affirmative action.
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard centers on the question of whether or not the Ivy League discriminates against Asian-American students in its race-conscious admission methods.
In the case involving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Supreme Court will decide whether considering race in admissions violates the constitution and civil rights law. Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina could have a large impact on the use of affirmative action policies in public universities.
The court will judge whether educational diversity is a compelling interest and whether affirmative action is an effective process to promote diversity. Similar cases have affirmed the use of race in admissions including a 2016 case from the University of Texas.
Affirmative action was first used following the desegregation of schools in order to create more diverse classes and promote equal opportunity. The legal precedent was first established in the 1977 case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. The Supreme Court found the use of race criterion at the University of California Davis’ admissions program permissible.
The decision was affirmed in the landmark 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger. In the case, the University of Michigan Law School argued that utilizing race as a factor served a “compelling interest in achieving diversity among its student body.” The Supreme Court found the policy constitutional as it did not use explicit quotas.
Discussions regarding the admissions of legacy students have been spurred by the case, especially in regard to Harvard, in which 43% of the school’s white students are ALDCs (athletes, legacies, dean’s interest list, and children of Harvard employees).
The Supreme Court is expected to issue opinions on Monday’s cases in 2023.
