No More Selecting Students Based on Race: US Supreme Court to Ivy League Universities

The Supreme Court in the US has ruled that US colleges, including Harvard and other Ivy League universities, should change their admission policies surrounding the race of an applicant. The ruling stated that any policies that consider and use an applicant’s race to enrol a diverse group of students should be changed.

In other words, while the policies have driven universities to establish a more diverse campus, the US colleges will now need another method to achieve the diverse campuses they aimed for. As per reports, the courts specifically “struck down” the admission policies of Harvard and the University of North Carolina which are some of the oldest private and public institutions.

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The reports further added that “the policies lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful endpoints”, the bench said, adding, “We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today.”

While universities, for long, have endorsed affirmative action on campuses to solve the challenges of racial inequalities. Harvard claims that nearly 40% of US universities factor in race as an element during the admission process. Both Harvard and UNC also stated that race is only one of the many factors they consider when shortlisting candidates for admission.

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Meanwhile, critics of the policy welcome the move, as for ages they have claimed that the policies give an unfair advantage to one race. Some critics even believe that remedial preferences are no longer needed.

Reports stated that such policies had been banned in several institutions across the country, however, some of the top institutions like Harvard and UNC maintained the practice. In a statement by the US Supreme Court, the affirmative action policies violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

In its statement, Harvard stated that the Supreme Court has previously cited Harvard’s admission process twice as a model for other colleges and universities to follow. It further stated that Harvard’s admission process considers race consistent with the law and the Constitution.

Source: The Hindustan Times