In a historic opinion handed down by a super-majority of six conservative justices, the Supreme Court ruled that Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the U.S. Constitution by considering race as part of their admission programs. This ruling, on June 30, 2023, means that no college, public or private, may consider race as a criteria for admissions, effectively ending affirmative action in college admission.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Court’s first Latinx member, and of Puerto Rican descent, warned in her dissenting opinion, “The majority’s vision of race neutrality will entrench racial segregation in higher education because racial inequality will persist so long as it is ignored.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the court, also dissented from the conservative majority, saying, “With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.”
Two notable exceptions were made in the ruling. First, was for military academies, owing to their “distinct interests” as cited by Chief Justice John Roberts.
The second exception is in students’ application letters. Roberts said that “nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”
Angie Gabeau, the president of the Harvard Black Students Association, said in a statement to the BBC that she is worried “students that are affected by their race in this country will now feel obligated to trauma-dump in their applications to show how race is affecting their lives.”
Reading from his concurring opinion with the conservative majority, Justice Clarence Thomas called college affirmative action policies “rudderless, race-based preferences.”
Roberts claimed in the majority opinion that universities, “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.”
In a targeted announcement sent out to the NEIU community, Dr. Shireen Roshanravan, the Executive Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, said, “In the face of this decision, Northeastern Illinois University’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (OEDI) finds it especially significant to express our pride as a comprehensive regional public university and federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution where most of the students we serve come from communities historically denied equal access to higher education. The expanse and depth of our diverse student body is our strength. We will continue to ensure this diversity flourishes in the spirit of equity and true inclusion.”
Dr. Roshanravan has invited anyone with questions or comments to contact her at [email protected].
