Supreme Court outlaws consideration of race as a factor in college admissions

WASHINGTON (TND) — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that colleges and universities must stop considering race in admissions, forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.

The cases involving admissions at the nation's oldest private college in Harvard and public college in the University of North Carolina were both ruled along the court's ideological lines. Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case because she sat on a governing board at the school.

The vote was 6-3 in the North Carolina case and 6-2 in the Harvard case.

In the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, he said universities have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”

Justice Clarence Thomas, who has long argued against affirmative action, described the schools' admissions programs as "rudderless, race-based preferences designed to ensure a particular racial mix in their entering classes.”

Roberts said higher education institutions could still consider applicants' discussion of personal race-based experiences as part of their admissions essays.

“Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise," he wrote. "But, despite the dissent’s assertion to the contrary, universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.”

The ruling will impact virtually every higher education institution in the U.S., though the nation's military academies were explicitly left out. Roberts said national security interests could affect the legal analysis.

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”

In a separate dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — the court’s first Black female justice — called the decision “truly a tragedy for us all.”

Lower courts had upheld the programs at both schools, saying the schools did not discriminate against white and Asian American applicants.

President Joe Biden said he "strongly, strongly" disagreed with the court's ruling and called on schools for it to not "be the last word."

"They should not abandon their commitment to ensure student bodies of diverse backgrounds and experience that reflect all of America,” Biden said at the White House.

UNC chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said it was “not the outcome we hoped for.”

"Carolina remains firmly committed to bringing together talented students with different perspectives and life experiences and continues to make an affordable, high-quality education accessible to the people of North Carolina and beyond,” Guskiewicz said. “While not the outcome we hoped for, we will carefully review the Supreme Court’s decision and take any steps necessary to comply with the law.”

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper condemned the rulings.

“This decision undermines decades of progress made across the country to reduce systemic discrimination and promote diversity on campuses which is an important part of a quality education,” Cooper said in a statement. “Campus leaders will now have to work even harder to ensure that North Carolinians of all backgrounds are represented in higher education and to ensure strong, diverse student bodies at our colleges and universities to train the next generation of leaders for North Carolina and the nation.”

Some Republican presidential candidates praised the rulings.

"The world admires America because we value freedom & opportunity. SCOTUS re-affirmed those values today. Picking winners & losers based on race is fundamentally wrong," former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement. "This decision will help every student—no matter their background—have a better opportunity to achieve the American dream."

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who was in office during the nomination and confirmation of three of the court's current members, also praised the decision.

"There is no place for discrimination based on race in the United States, and I am pleased that the Supreme Court has put an end to this egregious violation of civil and constitutional rights in admissions processes, which only served to perpetuate racism," he said.

The cases are Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, and Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.