PHILADELPHIA - The Supreme Court on Friday struck down affirmative action programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. This victory will likely end systematic race considerations in admissions processes.
Supreme Court Strikes Down Affirmative Action At Colleges
Both programs are illegal because they violate the Equal Protection Clause in the Constitution. In the UNC and Harvard cases, the votes were 6-2 for the UNC and 6-3 for the Harvard. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused himself from the Harvard case.
In 2003, the Supreme Court overturned the Grutter v. Bollinger ruling. The 2003 decision stated that universities are intensely interested in maintaining diverse campuses. The court threw out decades-old precedents, including a 1978 ruling that supported a limited use of race as an admissions factor to counter historic discrimination towards Black people and minorities.
