Race-based Admissions Ban

Extracted Attributes

• Scope

  Most college admissions

• Plaintiff

  Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA)

• Exclusions

  U.S. military academies

• Legal Basis

  Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Issuing Body

  United States Supreme Court

• Vote Count (Harvard case)

  6-2

• Chief Justice (Majority Opinion)

  John Roberts

Timeline

• Supreme Court's decision in *Regents of the University of California v. Bakke* validated some affirmative action in college admissions, provided race had a limited role. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1978-06-28

• Supreme Court's decision in *Grutter v. Bollinger* upheld the limited use of race as one of many factors in a holistic admissions process. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2003-06-23

• Michigan voters approved a ban on race-conscious admissions policies in public universities, later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, giving other states a precedent to do so. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2006-01-01

• Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) sued Harvard University in U.S. District Court, alleging discrimination against Asian Americans. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2013-11-17

• A district court judge upheld Harvard's limited use of race as a factor in admissions, citing lack of evidence of 'discriminatory animus' or 'conscious prejudice'. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2019-09-30

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2020-11-12

• SFFA petitioned the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2021-06-15

• The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in *Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard* and *v. University of North Carolina*, ruling that race-based affirmative action programs in most college admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, effectively banning them. (Source: Summary)

  2023-06-29

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. 181 (2023), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that race-based affirmative action programs in most college admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. With its companion case, Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, the Supreme Court effectively overruled Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), which validated some affirmative action in college admissions provided that race had a limited role in decisions. In 2013, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) sued Harvard University in U.S. District Court in Boston, alleging that the university's undergraduate admission practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Asian Americans. In 2019, a district court judge upheld Harvard's limited use of race as a factor in admissions, citing lack of evidence of "discriminatory animus" or "conscious prejudice". In 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling. In 2021, SFFA petitioned the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. After the appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers at the time, the cases were split, with Jackson recusing from the Harvard case while participating in the North Carolina one. On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Harvard that, by a vote of 6–2, reversed the lower court ruling. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts held that affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional. Because of the absence of U.S. military academies in the cases, the lack of relevant lower court rulings, and the potentially distinct interests that the military academies may present, the Court, limited by Article III, did not decide the fate of race-based affirmative action in military academies.

Web Search Results

• Timeline: A Heated History of Affirmative Action in America - KQED

  In a major blow to affirmative action policies nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a 2006 Michigan voter-approved ban on race-conscious admissions policies in public universities. The court argues that state voters should have the authority to determine this issue on their own, without the court intervening. While the decision doesn’t outlaw affirmative action policies in schools outside of Michigan, it gives other states the green light do so. In her impassioned dissent, Justice Sonia [...] Voters approve Prop 209, which amends the state’s constitution and prohibits state institutions, including public universities, from considering race, sex or ethnicity in admissions and hiring decisions. A federal district judge initially blocks enforcement of the proposition, but an appeals court overturns that ruling and allows the measure to proceed. It has since survived numerous legal challenges. Meanwhile, Black and Hispanic enrollment in the UC system dropped significantly after the ban [...] The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Thursday rejected race-conscious admission policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, ruling them a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. The historic 6-3 decision is the latest word in a fierce protracted fight over affirmative action in university admissions.

• Unpacking the Impact of the Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Ruling

  In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court upheld the use of race as one of many factors that can be considered in a holistic admissions process. However, in the 2023 Students for Fair Admissions decisions, the Court ruled that race-based admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, emphasized that admissions decisions should evaluate applicants as individuals rather than evaluating them based on race. Justice [...] In June 2023, in the cases Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger, a precedent that had allowed higher education institutions to consider race in admissions. These decisions fundamentally altered the landscape of college admissions nationwide. As colleges and universities share data on their first-year student enrollment and continue adjusting

• A Brief History of Affirmative Action // Office of Equal Opportunity and ...

  On July 20, 1995 the Board of Regents of the University of California adopted Regents Resolutions SP-1 and SP-2. In effect, SP-1 required that race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, and national origin not be considered in the admissions decision process. SP-2 focused on University employment and contracts, eliminating consideration of the same attributes in hiring and contracting decisions. Both resolutions stipulated that nothing contained within these sections should be interpreted to [...] SP-1, Section 2: _Effective January 1, 1997, the University of California shall not use race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin as criteria for admission to the University or to any program of study._ SP-2, Section 1: _Effective January 1, 1996, the University of California shall not use race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin as criteria in its employment and contracting practices._ SP-1, Section 6 (and SP-2, Section 3): [...] Executive Order 11246 & 11375 ----------------------------- On September 24, 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin by those organizations receiving federal contracts and subcontracts. In 1967, President Johnson issued Executive Order 11375, which amended the EO 11246 to include sex on the list of attributes.

• The Supreme Court's ban on affirmative action means colleges will ...

  Class-based admissions based on household income have also been a popular alternative to race-based admissions, but similarly to wealth, this criteria would fall short of the diversity objectives set by admissions offices, and undermine efforts to address discrimination. According to a study byGeorgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, selective colleges that are prohibited from considering race and ethnicity in admissions decisions may regain some level of racial and ethnic [...] As an alternative to race-based admissions, certain schools and advocates have suggested considering socioeconomic status—including wealth—as a criterion for preference in college admissions, irrespective of race. However, this race-blind alternative falls short in capturing the full scope of what race-based admissions could achieve. Focusing solely on socioeconomic status fails to address the specific obstacles that affirmative action was intended to combat. [...] Likewise, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, enrollment rates for students of color experienced a decline following the state’s adoption of Proposal 2, commonly known asthe Affirmative Action Initiative#:~:text=A%20proposal%20to%20amend%20the,employment%2C%20education%20or%20contracting%20purposes.), in 2006. This voter referendum also led to a state constitutional ban on race-conscious admissions. By 2021, Black enrollment stood at a mere 4%–a three percentage point drop from 2006.

• Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race ...

  Special Initiatives Immigration and Immigrant Integration Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities for Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility Early-Career Opportunities Pipeline Grants Competition Dissertation Research Grants Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System [...] Special Initiatives Immigration and Immigrant Integration Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities for Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility Early-Career Opportunities Pipeline Grants Competition Dissertation Research Grants Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System [...] Immigration and Immigrant Integration Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities for Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility Pipeline Grants Competition Programs Future of Work Recent Grants Program History Visiting Scholars Books Reports and Working Papers Completed Research