June 29, 2023 – 8:01 PM
Pro- and anti-racial admissions protesters at Harvard and the University of North Carolina – Photo: Evelyn Hochstein/Reuters
The US Supreme Court has effectively banned racially-affirmed racial admissions procedures at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. This has long been used to increase the number of underrepresented minorities (blacks, Hispanics), he writes. Reuters.
According to the court’s decision, the recruitment procedure, which takes into account the applicants’ ethnicity in the positive sense, violates the constitutional oath on equality before the law.
The ruling was supported by the majority of conservative judges, while the liberal side voted against it. With this decision, the students gave the truth to the Fair Admissions Group, which was founded by Edward Bloom, an anti-affirmative action activist. The decision forces many universities to review and restructure their admissions programmes.
According to Harvard University, about 40 percent of American colleges and universities view race in some way. Joe Biden has already reacted to the Supreme Court’s ruling: The US president has strongly condemned the decision, and demanded that universities not abandon the principles they have so far used to ensure diversity.
The Chief Justice, John Roberts, argued that students should be treated as individuals based on their experience, not on the basis of race. Roberts also added that an applicant’s ethnic background could still be considered if there were serious disadvantages in their life.
