Xiaoming Sheng, of the Asian American Coalition for Education, demonstrates against affirmative action in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (Minh Connors/The Washington Post)
By Robert Barnes, The Washington Post, June 29, 2023
The Supreme Court on Thursday held that admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina that relied in part on racial considerations violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection, a historic ruling that will force a dramatic change in howthe nation’s private and public universities select their students.
The votes split along ideological grounds, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing for the conservative members in the majority, and the liberals dissenting. While the ruling involved race-conscious programs at Harvard and UNC, it will affect virtually every college and university in the United States
“The student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race,” Roberts wrote. “Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
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