This past Monday, the justices of the Supreme Court heard a pair of cases that could end up causing them to officially rule against Affirmative action, a policy that allowed universities to promote people belonging to certain minority groups throughout their standard admissions processes.
One legal advocacy group, Students for Fair Admissions, has stood in opposition to affirmative action and has officially filed complaints against both the University of North Carolina and Harvard University for “employing racially and ethnically discriminatory policies and procedures” when going through their admissions process. The lawsuit slammed against Harvard made the argument that Asian-American students are being required to get much high test scores on standardized tests in order to secure entrance into ivy league colleges.
The more conservative-leaning justices of the Supreme Court have voiced an extremely high degree of skepticism regarding race-conscious admissions practices as the legal teams for both schools expressed their arguments. Justice Brett Kavanaugh explained that policies such as those are “potentially dangerous and must have a logical end point,” while Justice Amy Coney Barrett called on attorneys for the University of North Carolina to clarify just when the “sunset” for such policies was expected to be. Justice Clarence Thomas stated that he has “heard the word ‘diversity’ quite a few times” and absolutely does not “have a clue what it means.”
“College admissions are a zero-sum game,” stated Justice Samuel Alito, as reported by a release from Reuters. “And if you give a ‘plus’ to a person who falls within the category of under-represented minority, but not to somebody else, then you are disadvantaging the other student.”
A number of indepth studies have made sure to highlight the various disadvantages faced by Asian Americans in college admissions processes that are trying to hold slots for Hispanic or black students. One such study from back in 2009 ended by stating that Asians were required to hold an SAT score roughly 140 points higher than that of their white peers, 270 points higher than Hispanic applicants, and a whopping 450 points higher than any of the black applicants, as stated in a report from the Asian American Coalition for Education.
The justices of the Supreme Court who stand against affirmative action could see an advantage in the case against Harvard, as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, an extreme liberal put in place by Old Uncle Joe, recused herself from the talks due to having recently finished a six-year stint as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers.
Conservative policy analysts for the Heritage Foundation stated that the Supreme Court now has a chance to “correct a wrong that has unfairly punished students across this country seeking to attend the school of their choosing,” as explained via a press release.
“American colleges and universities should welcome all students who have the academic capabilities, interests, and values to perform well in their institutions,” commented Lindsey Burke, the Heritage Foundation Center for Education Policy Director. “They should reject racial preferences in favor of genuine diversity — a student body admitted based on merit that has a wide range of life experiences and political and philosophical viewpoints, all of which contribute to a robust climate of free expression and academic inquiry on campus.”
“The college admissions process should be focused on bringing the best and brightest minds to an institution, not making elite liberals feel good about their ‘racial sensitivity,’ which is all the euphemistically named ‘affirmative action’ does,” concluded Mike Gonzalez, a Heritage Foundation senior. “Affirmative action does not solve the problem of why members of some groups fall behind academically. It does not address failing public schools, worsening socioeconomic and family formation issues, or high out-of-wedlock birth rates that hold people down. Instead, affirmative action mandates by imperial fiat that a certain percentage of a college must be filled with a certain group.”
