Historically, conservative justices have voted against these types of admission programs, but they were usually outnumbered.
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The current Supreme Court is giving your uncle a run for his money when it comes to discussing controversial topics. In addition to hearing cases on abortion, gun regulations, and vaccine mandates, the court added affirmative action to its docket yesterday. SCOTUS will hear two cases that could shake up the admissions process at public and private colleges and universities across the US.
Students for Fair Admissions, a group led by anti-affirmative action crusader Edward Blum, who’s no stranger to the high court, sued Harvard University and the University of North Carolina for discriminating against Asian American applicants. In the Harvard case, the group argues that the school gave “massive preferences” to Black and Hispanic students.
- Harvard has denied the claims and lower courts have sided with Harvard in previous cases.
- Harvard’s current freshman class makeup is 52% white, 24% Asian, 11% Black, and 10% Hispanic. The school said that if it got rid of its current race-conscious admissions, “African-American and Hispanic representation would decline by nearly half.”
Zoom out: Historically, conservative justices have voted against race-conscious admission programs but were usually outnumbered—now, they have a sizable majority at 6–3. Arguments will likely begin in the fall.—MM
