The Supreme Court on Thursday held that admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina that relied in part on racial considerations violate the Constitutionâs guarantee of equal protection, a historic ruling that will force a dramatic change in how the nationâs private and public universities select their students.
The votes split along ideological grounds, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing for the conservative members in the majority, and the liberals dissenting. While the ruling involved race-conscious programs at Harvard and UNC, it will affect virtually every college and university in the United States.
âThe student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual â not on the basis of race,â Roberts wrote, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. âMany universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individualâs identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice…
