• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Politics
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Gay Pride
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Men
  • Space
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Monkeypox
  • Film/TV

U.S. Supreme Court to hear challenge to race-conscious college admissions

Towleroad January 24, 2022 Leave a Comment

Published by
Reuters
485808 origin 1

By Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley

(Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a bid to bar Harvard University and the University of North Carolina from considering race in undergraduate admissions in a case that imperils affirmative action policies widely used to increase the number of Black and Hispanic students on American campuses.

The justices agreed to hear appeals by a group called Students for Fair Admissions, founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, of lower court rulings that upheld the programs used by the two prestigious universities to foster a diverse student population. The cases give the court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, a chance to end such policies.

The lawsuits accused the universities of discriminating against applicants on the basis of race in violation of federal law or the U.S. Constitution. Blum’s group alleged in the Harvard case that the school discriminated against Asian American applicants. In the UNC case, Blum’s group alleged that the university’s policy discriminated against white and Asian American applicants.

The universities have said they use race as only one factor in a host of individualized evaluations for admission without quotas, and that curbing the consideration of race would result in a significant drop in the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented students on campus.

The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. U.S. conservatives long have opposed affirmative action programs used in such areas as hiring and student admissions to address past discrimination against minorities.

The use of affirmative action has withstood Supreme Court scrutiny for decades, including in a 2016 ruling https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-court-affirmativeaction-idINKCN0ZA08C involving a white student backed by Blum, who challenged a University of Texas policy, though the justices have narrowed its application. The eventual ruling in the new challenge could dilute or potentially eliminate college affirmative action programs.

Blum’s group sued Harvard in 2014, accusing it of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on race, color or national origin under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Harvard is a private university founded in 1636 and located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It receives federal funds.

The group also sued UNC in 2014, accusing the university of impermissibly using race as the main factor in admissions in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law. UNC, located in Chapel Hill and chartered in 1789, is North Carolina’s flagship public university.

The Supreme Court first upheld affirmative action in college admissions in a landmark 1978 ruling in a case called Regents of the University of California v. Bakke that held that race could be considered as a factor but racial quotas could not be used.

Blum’s group asked the Supreme Court to overturn a 2003 Supreme Court ruling in a case called Grutter v. Bollinger involving the University of Michigan Law School that held that colleges could consider race as one factor in the admissions process because of the compelling interest of creating a diverse student body.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in that ruling that she expected “the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary” by 2028.

President Joe Biden’s administration has backed Harvard, telling the justices in a court filing not to hear that case. The court’s precedents “correctly recognize” that the educational benefits that result from diversity justify race-conscious measures.

Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, a Republican, had backed Blum’s lawsuit against Harvard.

Students for Fair Admissions said Harvard’s policies limited Asian Americans to 20% of incoming undergraduate classes and left them less likely to be admitted than white, Black and Hispanic applicants with comparable qualifications. It said in court papers that Harvard “automatically awards racial preferences to African-Americans and Hispanics.” Harvard said the challengers depicted its policies inaccurately.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has widened since it ruled 5-4 in favor of the University of Texas in 2016, with now-retired conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy joining four liberal justices. The addition of three justices appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump moved the court rightward.

Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the court has been hostile to other efforts to remedy past racial discrimination. In 2013 it struck down https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-voting/supreme-court-guts-key-part-of-landmark-voting-rights-act-idUSBRE95O0TU20130625 a key part of the Voting Rights Act, enacted in 1965 to ensure that minorities could vote. In 2020, the court weakened https://www.reuters.com/world/us/voting-rights-breyers-future-spotlight-us-supreme-court-2021-07-01 another key part of that law.

The case is expected to be heard during the court’s 2022 term, which begins in October and ends in June 2023.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York and Lawrence Hurley in Washington; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Will Dunham)

485808 485808 origin 1 1
485808 485808 origin 1 2
485808 485808 origin 1 3
485808 485808 origin 1 4
485808 485808 origin 1 5

Topics: Aaon, towleroad

  • Johnson takes responsibility but won’t quit over lockdown parties

    Johnson takes responsibility but won’t quit over lockdown parties

    Published by Reuters By Elizabeth Piper and Muvija M LONDON (Reuters) -A “humbled” Boris Johnson said he took full responsibility but would not quit after a damning official report on Wednesday detailed a series of illegal …Read More »
  • Exclusive: Biden moves to fill key appellate seat vacated by U.S. Supreme Court’s Jackson

    Exclusive: Biden moves to fill key appellate seat vacated by U.S. Supreme Court’s Jackson

    Published by Reuters By Nate Raymond (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated three women to serve as appellate judges including Florence Pan, who would succeed U.S. Supreme Court-designate Ketanji Brown Jackson on the influential …Read More »
  • Monkeypox vaccine producer says enough supplies are available

    Monkeypox vaccine producer says enough supplies are available

    Published by DPA An illustration photo shows a medical syringe with the word Monkeypox virus in the background. Sufficient supplies of the Imvanex vaccine against monkeypox are available to handle the current outbreak, the producer of …Read More »
  • LGBTQ Community Urges Viewers To Boycott Controversial Comic Ricky Gervais After ‘Anti-Trans’ Jokes

    LGBTQ Community Urges Viewers To Boycott Controversial Comic Ricky Gervais After ‘Anti-Trans’ Jokes

    Published by Radar Online PTNY/©2013 RAMEY PHOTO Ricky Gervais sparked backlash for anti-trans jokes in his new Netflix comedy special, leaving some members of the LGBTQ community outraged. The controversial comic, 60, became a hot topic …Read More »
Previous Post: « Spice Girls ‘to reunite at Brooklyn Beckham’s wedding’
Next Post: U.S. Supreme Court agrees to consider limiting wetlands regulation »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Georgia rebukes Trump over US voter fraud ‘Big Lie’

    Georgia rebukes Trump over US voter fraud ‘Big Lie’

  • Nike halts sales to retailers in Russia

    Nike halts sales to retailers in Russia

  • Shunned! Caitlyn Jenner Denied Invite To Kardashian-Barker Wedding In Italy

    Shunned! Caitlyn Jenner Denied Invite To Kardashian-Barker Wedding In Italy

  • Paranoid Putin! Russian Leader Promotes Bodyguard To Minister Following Predecessor’s Sudden & Mysterious Death

    Paranoid Putin! Russian Leader Promotes Bodyguard To Minister Following Predecessor’s Sudden & Mysterious Death

Break

  • Dyson set to preview new robots to help with tasks at home

    Dyson set to preview new robots to help with tasks at home

  • Elvis fever set to shake Cannes

    Elvis fever set to shake Cannes

  • Battle Of The Billionaires! Elon Musk SLAMS Bill Gates After Article Claims Microsoft Mogul Is Funding Musk’s Critics

    Battle Of The Billionaires! Elon Musk SLAMS Bill Gates After Article Claims Microsoft Mogul Is Funding Musk’s Critics

  • Paula Abdul planning ‘spectacular’ 60th birthday bash

    Paula Abdul planning ‘spectacular’ 60th birthday bash

RSS Partner Links

  • Fleshback: Tom Of Finland
  • OMG, LISTEN TO THIS: Kelly Clarkson drops her cover of Billie Eilish’ ‘Happier Than You’
  • OMG, Heartstopper’s Kit Connor: “I’m comfortable in my sexuality & don’t need to label myself publicly”
  • Leslie Jordan shares funny memories of his mother, Peggy Ann, who passed away at age 86
  • Naked Anime + NYC Shooter Turns Himself In + Texas Shooter Had Body Armor + History's Evil Twinks + MORE! — 12-PACK
  • Birthday Sluts
  • Song of the Day: 'I Belong in Your Arms' by Chairlift
  • Page 1 Roundup (05/25)
  • Weekend Tennis Roundup

Most Recent

  • New York City removes last public phone booth

    New York City removes last public phone booth

  • Johnson takes responsibility but won’t quit over lockdown parties

    Johnson takes responsibility but won’t quit over lockdown parties

  • Exclusive: Biden moves to fill key appellate seat vacated by U.S. Supreme Court’s Jackson

    Exclusive: Biden moves to fill key appellate seat vacated by U.S. Supreme Court’s Jackson

  • Monkeypox vaccine producer says enough supplies are available

    Monkeypox vaccine producer says enough supplies are available

  • LGBTQ Community Urges Viewers To Boycott Controversial Comic Ricky Gervais After ‘Anti-Trans’ Jokes

    LGBTQ Community Urges Viewers To Boycott Controversial Comic Ricky Gervais After ‘Anti-Trans’ Jokes

  • NC Republicans push ban on teachers discussing LGBTQ issues, other rules for schools

    NC Republicans push ban on teachers discussing LGBTQ issues, other rules for schools

  • Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

    Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Log in