The use of race in admissions by Harvard College and the University of North Carolina (UNC) is unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court has held in a 6-3 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts. Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, No. 20-1199, together with Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Univ. of North Carolina, No. 21-707 (June 29, 2023).
Despite finding the schools had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court did not expressly overturn its 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306. In Grutter, the Court held that use of an applicant’s race as one factor in an admissions policy of a public educational institution does not violate the Constitution.
Discussing its 2003 Grutter decision and its pronouncement then that consideration of race in admissions should end within 25 years, the Court emphasized in its latest decision that “twenty years later, no end is in sight.” Irrespective of what the Court deemed as Harvard’s and UNC’s “well intentioned” and “good faith” efforts, the Court held the schools’ programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Court explained that Harvard and UNC “have fallen short of satisfying the burden” that their programs are “‘sufficiently measurable to permit judicial review’ under the rubric of strict scrutiny” and “‘[c]lassifying and assigning’ students based on their race ‘requires more...
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