On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court found that Harvard’s and UNC’s race-conscious admissions practices are unconstitutional. The Harvard/UNC decision does not directly impact employment law—including federal contractors with mandatory Affirmative Action programs (AAPs) and private employers with voluntary Inclusion, Equity & Diversity (IE&D) initiatives—but may impact the way the public, employees, the judiciary, government agencies, and the plaintiff’s bar evaluate such programs.

On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, which are generally similar to how numerous other higher education institutions around the country have considered an individual’s race in the college admissions process, violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The Court did not explicitly overturn its two-decades’-old precedent finding that a narrow consideration of race among other factors in the admissions process could pass “strict scrutiny” constitutional muster. But for all practical purposes, the Court’s ruling effectively makes unlawful any ongoing direct consideration of a college applicant’s race in achieving student diversity in higher education.

The cases before the Court were filed by “Students for Fair Admission,” a nonprofit organization which believes racial preferences in college admissions are unconstitutional....

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiemh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmxpdHRsZXIuY29tL3B1...