The US Supreme Court has ruled that college admissions policies based on race are a no-go. The cases involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina, Harvard, for under-enrolling qualified Asian applicants while UNC was accused of failing to achieve diversity by other means.
Both schools take public money and must change their Admissions programs as a result of the decision.
“The Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause. Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts for the six-justice majority.
However, universities may still consider an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise. Roberts clarified that this does not mean universities can simply establish through application essays or other means the regime declared unlawful by the Court. It means, explained Roberts, “the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race.”
Is it just me, or did the Court leave a backdoor for colleges and Universities to continue the practice of racist-based admissions?
