DEVELOPING STORY: The Supreme Court all but abolished affirmative action today — announcing that it is illegal for colleges to consider race as a face in admissions.
The longstanding rule had benefited black and brown students at the expense of white and Asian students.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the conservative majority.
“President Donald Trump made today’s historic decision to end the racist college admissions process possible because he delivered on his promise to appoint constitutionalist justices. America is a better nation as a result of the historic rulings led by Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees,” said MAGA spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
The case involved Harvard University’s crackdown on the number of Asian American students. The lawsuit against Harvard alleged that the school’s practices penalized Asian American students, and that they failed to employ race-neutral practices.
The North Carolina case raised the issue of whether the university could reject the use of non-race-based practices without showing that they would bring down the school’s academic quality or negatively impact the benefits gained from campus diversity.
The Supreme Court rejected the use of race as a factor in college admissions as a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
The world admires America because we value freedom & opportunity. SCOTUS re-affirmed those values today. Picking winners & losers based on race is fundamentally wrong.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) June 29, 2023
This decision will help every student—no matter their background—have a better opportunity to achieve the…
.@Mike_Pence on the SCOTUS affirmative action decision. pic.twitter.com/Wa8UJfrDAt
— Adam Wren (@adamwren) June 29, 2023
Many universities have argued that race-based admissions ensures that student bodies remain diverse, while critics such as the plaintiffs in the cases argue the policy discriminates against many qualified students based on race.
Students for Fair Admissions, a student activist group, brought cases against both Harvard and University of North Carolina. The group initially sued Harvard College in 2014 for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives Federal funds or other Federal financial assistance.”