The Supreme Court’s recent decision is a positive step forward for the return of merit in college admissions
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CounterCurrent:
A Landmark Victory for Merit
The Supreme Court’s recent decision is a positive step forward for the return of merit in college admissions
CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ weekly newsletter, bringing you the biggest issues in academia and our responses to them.
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Category: Affirmative Action, Supreme Court; Reading Time: ~3 minutes
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** Featured Article - Press Release: Harvard Loses, America Wins ([link removed])
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The waves made last week by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students For Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College ([link removed]) still haven’t subsided, nor will they for quite some time. Though the ruling is shrouded in controversy, we at the National Association of Scholars (NAS) are celebrating this decision as a step in the right direction for American higher education.
If you missed it, the Court ruled last Thursday that “Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” This opinion consolidated two cases: Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina (UNC) et al. This landmark 6-3 decision comes after nearly a decade of court cases, as Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) originally brought the suit against Harvard in 2014. The NAS took an active role by filing amicus briefs in support of SFFA in 2018 ([link removed]) , 2020 ([link removed]) , and again in 2022 ([link removed]) , along with writing numerous articles
([link removed]) and reports ([link removed]) on the subject. The crux of the issue? SFFA alleged that Harvard used its holistic admissions process to limit the admission of Asian students—a clear use of racial discrimination by the university’s administration. Here’s the main takeaway ([link removed]) :
The Court’s decision made clear that Harvard’s and UNC’s reliance on racial preferences was too broad. The two schools attempted to obfuscate unconstitutional policies and, when confronted, defend the use of race by any means necessary. As the Court notes, when faced with criticism of how to quantify diversity’s benefit and draw connections between the use of racial preferences and the institutions’ goals, the schools’ answer was, “‘trust us.’”
The NAS has a long history of opposing racial preferences in higher education. Since 1987, we’ve advocated against the use of affirmative action and racial preferences in college admissions through reports, projects, and policy. As NAS President Peter Wood states ([link removed]) , “students should be admitted to colleges and universities on the basis of individual talent and character—for academic achievement, proven ability, ambition, and a commitment to learning.” This sentiment holds true now as much as it did in 1987.
Even with this progress, we must stay vigilant. Race-essentialist policymakers and colleges and universities will attempt to find loopholes in this case in the days to come (as many have threatened to do already). But as Peter Wood noted in an article ([link removed]) for The Spectator, because the Court rested its opinion explicitly on “the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, not on the Civil Rights Act, any other legislation or any executive orders,” this ruling “means it is constitutional law—and cannot be undone by Congress or overruled by a president who ‘strongly disagrees’ with it.” This was a smart decision by the majority. However, we will be closely watching for any abuse of loopholes or attempts to nullify the Court’s decision.
It’s been a long fight to restore merit over racial preferences in college admissions, and though this ruling is a step in the right direction, there is still a long road ahead. Though we at the NAS celebrate the Court’s ruling, a careful consideration and thorough reading of the case is also critical (this is a dense, 237-page decision, after all—a quick judgment or opinion benefits no one). There is more to discuss in light of this ruling over the days, weeks, and months ahead, and we look forward to unpacking this decision and what it means for higher education with you.
Until next week.
Kali Jerrard
Communications Associate
National Association of Scholars
Read the Full Press Release ([link removed])
For more on affirmative action and discrimination in higher education:
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July 03, 2023
** WU: The Beginning of the End for Racial Preferences ([link removed])
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Wenyuan Wu
Despite all the weeping and gnashing of teeth, one thing is clear: U.S. colleges and universities can no longer consider race with impunity when recruiting students and expect to get away with it.
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June 29, 2023
** Affirmative Action and Ethnic Reality ([link removed])
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Carolyn Kost
While voters have repeatedly registered their opposition to racial, ethnic, and gender preferences in academic admissions and hiring, administrators, faculty, some consistently undermine the electorate’s intent.
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April 24, 2019
** Report: Separate but Equal, Again ([link removed])
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Dion J. Pierre
Universities promote the benefits of diversity while actively constructing ethnic enclaves, promoting racial resentment, and founding organizational structures based on group grievance.
** About the NAS
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The National Association of Scholars, founded in 1987, emboldens reasoned scholarship and propels civil debate. We’re the leading organization of scholars and citizens committed to higher education as the catalyst of American freedom.
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