Local Court | Graphic by Arden Reimer | The Wright State Guardian
The United States Supreme Court began a new term this October. The docket includes a number of cases that have the potential to overturn notable precedents, including two case heardings on Oct. 31 concerning the use of affirmative action in higher education.
Affirmative action cases
In 2003, the Rehnquist Court set a precedent in Grutter v. Bollinger, which allowed race-based admissions as a factor in higher education.
The upcoming cases, Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. University of North Carolina, et al, represent arguments against race-based admissions at both public and private universities. The Supreme Court will hear these cases together.
SFFA asserted in both cases that the affirmative action precedent set in Grutter violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that the prior decision was grievously wrong and should be overturned.
“When a decision of this Court ‘undermines the fundamental principle of equal protection as a personal right,’ it is ‘the principle,’ not the decision, that ‘must prevail,’” SFFA v. UNC states in regard to the Grutter decision.
The argument
The petition for a writ of certiorari for the UNC case claims that the precedent set in Brown v. Board of Education is reason enough to overturn affirmative action.
“The Court vindicated the promise of equality in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), rejecting ‘any authority…to use race as a factor in affording educational opportunities,’” the petition states in regard to Brown.
Further, in the Harvard brief, SFFA noted that the university has a history of using its admissions process to discriminate originally against Jewish students and now against Asian American students.
What’s next
A number of high-ranking public universities that do not use race-based admissions, including those in Michigan and California, still boast highly diverse student bodies, according to the UNC petition.
“The required changes to universities’ admissions policies would be miniscule,” SFFA further explained in Harvard. “Universities can still conduct ‘holistic’ admissions without race.”
Wright State University does not actively use race as a factor in the admissions process. Susan Schaurer, vice president for Enrollment Management, explained that affirmative action is often used by selective institutions, but Wright State is considered minimally selective.
“As an institution that is minimally selective, defined as having an acceptance rate greater than 75%, all students who meet our minimal criteria for admissions are admitted. As such, admission to the University is not denied to any student meeting the qualifying criteria,” Schaurer said.
Students would not see changes in the admissions process at WSU should the Supreme Court overrule the legality of affirmative action.
