The fact is, affirmative action in higher education has been overwhelmingly successful and we should be proud of the impact it has had not only on college campuses, but in moving us closer to the integrated society first envisioned by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education.
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In a pair of cases challenging University of MI admission policies, court majorities ruled in 2003 that admissions officers can look at race but only as one of several factors determining an individual’s acceptance or rejection and only if no viable alternatives for creating racially diverse classes exist. “We all have an interest in creating a diverse class to ensure we create, to the greatest extent possible, equal opportunity for education”. Atlanta attorney Lee Parks, who represented the three Georgia students in the 2001 case, called the Supreme Court’s decision in the Fisher case “disappointing”.
“Decades of research have conclusively demonstrated the benefits of diversity in higher education. Our nation benefits when we produce leaders who understand and appreciate others, and we are gratified that the Court has provided a path for public colleges and universities to accomplish this compelling objective”.
Advocates had feared that the court might rule that there was no longer a place for affirmative action in college admissions.
A legal scholar at Western Kentucky University says Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action is good for the country’s college classrooms.
The University later disproved her contention, explaining that using their system, which awards applicants points based on their race/ethnicity, had Fisher been a student of color, her grades and test scores would not have been strong enough to gain her admission.
The other decision was a tie-vote that stalled President Obama’s executive action on immigration.
Justice Elena Kagan recused herself because of her involvement with the case during her tenure as Solicitor General.
Perhaps the MA school most closely watching this case was Harvard University.
The decision came as a surprise to many following the case.
“What this opinion lacks in legal reasoning, it made up in contradictions”, Mr. Blum said in an interview, adding that Thursday’s opinion is at odds with the court’s previous decision in the long-running case, issued two years ago.
The UT argued that its admissions process supplemented a 1997 state law guaranteeing automatic admission for high school graduates in the top 10 percent of their classes to public universities in Texas.
At St. John Fisher College, race is not considered in the review of an application, said Stacy Ledermann, director of freshman admissions at the college.
However, Kennedy also wrote that it “remains an enduring challenge” for USA schools to “reconcile the pursuit of diversity with the constitutional promise of equal treatment and dignity”. The majority opinion was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had never before voted to support race-conscious admissions.
Instead, Fisher went to Louisiana State University, from which she graduated in 2012, and pursued her lawsuit. The states are Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.
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“The people who are in favor of affirmative action and diversity are going to trumpet this as a big victory for their side of the equation”.
