Affirmative action on the line as Supreme Court hears Harvard and UNC admissions case

Kaelan Deese

Jeremiah Poff

October 31, 06:05 AM October 31, 06:05 AM

Colleges across the United States are preparing for a future without race-based admissions policies as the Supreme Court will soon decide whether to end decades of affirmative action precedent.

The legal effort was brought to the high court by the conservative group Students for Fair Admissions, which argues that nearly four decades of affirmative action precedent have disproportionately harmed Asian American applicants and that institutions should amend their policies to adopt "race-neutral" standards. The justices will hear two cases Monday over admissions policies at the public University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the private Harvard University.

Edward Blum, the 70-year-old head at SFFA and a longtime critic of affirmative action, said the group represents nearly 20,000 students who are asking the high court to overturn its decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, which affirmed the partial use of race in admissions at the University of Michigan in a 5-4 opinion in 2003, so long as it didn't rely on race as a sole deciding factor.

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"The founding principles of our nation's civil rights laws is the requirement that an individual's race and ethnicity should not be used to help or harm them in their life's endeavors," Blum told the Washington Examiner, adding, "We hope the Supreme Court forbids the use of race and ethnicity in college admissions and that the opinion will begin the restoration of our nation’s constitutional colorblind legal covenant."

Challengers against the 2003 ruling are hoping that the 6-3 conservative majority, installed by former President Donald Trump's three high court nominees who were confirmed with the help of former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), will be willing to apply strict scrutiny to the decades-old affirmative action precedent.

However, critics of SFFA, such as the Leadership Conference Education Fund, allege the conservative group is attempting to quash progressive racial equity efforts and that ruling against affirmative action could lead to diminished diversity not only in universities, but in other sectors such as colleges that offer military ROTC programs.

“One thing is clear — the future of our multiracial democracy is at stake. The civil rights community is united because we know that we are stronger together, even in the face of the so-called Students for Fair Admissions’ — and Ed Blum’s — attacks on affirmative action," Maya Wiley, the president and CEO of the LCEF, told the Washington Examiner.

Several demonstrations and rallies are planned to happen outside of the high court Monday, including more than 100 students from Harvard and 40 students from Yale University in defense of affirmative action, among other advocacy groups.

Here are the differences between the two cases to be heard Monday:

Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC

As a public university, UNC is bound by the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race.

Defending itself against the lawsuit that was initially filed in 2014, UNC argues in a Supreme Court brief for the right to create a diverse environment on campus. However, the university's counsel notes it is prepared to give "serious and ongoing consideration to race-neutral alternatives" and that it would conform "the most promising strategies for attaining diversity in race-neutral ways" if the justices strike affirmative action.

"On campus, diversity promotes the robust exchange of ideas, fosters innovation, and nurtures empathy and mutual respect. It also looks to the future, equipping students with the tools and experiences necessary for success in the modern world," the brief argues.

All nine justices will hear arguments in the UNC case first Monday. Newly sworn-in Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recently completed a six-year term on the Harvard University Board of Overseers and has recused herself from one of the cases due to the conflict of interest, meaning only eight justices will rule over the Harvard case.

Jackson publicly committed to recusing herself during her confirmation hearing in March after several Republican senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee pressed her on the issue.

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard

While the two cases being heard by the high court both count SFFA as the plaintiff, the group's lawsuit against Harvard has drawn the most notoriety.

First filed in 2014, the lawsuit charged the private institution with racial discrimination by deliberately limiting the number of students of Asian descent who are admitted to the Ivy League school.

Although it is not public, the university accepts federal grants that bind it to refrain from racial discrimination under Title VI, meaning it is interpreted under the same scrutiny as the Equal Protection Clause, according to Rachel Moran, a professor of law at the University of California.

After lower courts ruled in Harvard's favor, citing existing Supreme Court precedent, SFFA appealed to the high court, which agreed to hear the case in January.

The Justice Department argued in a December brief that the pair of cases was a "poor vehicle" for reexamining past affirmative action precedent. "Those decisions have invited colleges and universities to rely on the permissibility of a holistic, flexible approach like Harvard's as a benchmark in structuring their own admissions policies," Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote.

Jackson's recusal from the Harvard case likely won't affect the final rulings that will ultimately be led by the conservative majority. Final separate opinions over the cases will likely come by the summer of next year.

However, the first-ever black woman on the high court's participation in the UNC case may see her contrast from the ideological principle of colorblindness that conservative justices often attribute to the 14th Amendment’s guarantee that all people will receive "the equal protection of the laws."

Jackson argued on Oct. 4 that the framers of the 14th Amendment intended it to apply to everyone in a "race conscious way," a point that drew criticism by some conservative legal scholars and praise by liberal court watchers for her display of so-called "progressive originalism."

Stimulus 2022: Deadline to implement for $1,000 immediate a person-time payment just 9 days away

Asher Notheis

September 06, 10:49 AM September 06, 10:49 AM

Maryland residents have only a minor a lot more than a 7 days to assert a Student Personal loan Personal debt Aid Tax Credit of up to $1,000.

Eligible persons living in the state have until Sept. 15 to implement for the tax credit score meant to aid folks in Maryland who took out college student loans to fork out for college.

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“Going to school may appear to be out of access for quite a few Marylanders specified the massive expense, but tax credits like these support make it feasible. I urge every person to utilize now ahead of time operates out,” Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot explained in a Southern Maryland Chronicle report. “Any way to carry down the charge of increased training is a massive advantage.”

People who went to out-of-state universities may have more compact credits in contrast to those people who went to faculties and universities within just Maryland, according to the point out. The credit rating should be made use of to enable with college student personal loan financial debt. Usually, a receiver may well have to repay the credit rating.

In buy to qualify for the tax credit, applicants ought to have submitted state cash flow taxes in Maryland and amassed a pupil mortgage of at least $20,000 even though retaining $5,000 or additional in unpaid debt. Regardless of whether or not a human being graduated from higher education is not a need for the credit score.

Everyone intrigued in making use of for this provide can do so on the state's web-site.

The Washington Examiner contacted the state of Maryland for comment.

Potential college or university college students rethink schools in states banning abortions

Misty Severi

July 11, 09:08 AM July 11, 09:08 AM

Some high school students are reconsidering their prime higher education preference primarily based on the abortion guidelines of the point out in which a college is situated following the Supreme Court's final decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Kristen Willmott, a counselor with Top Tier Admissions in Massachusetts, informed Reuters some significant school students have taken out Texas, Florida, and Tennessee from their top rated point out alternatives thanks to their restrictive abortion legislation. The CEO of Prepory, a college counseling firm in Florida, also famous a priority change in future college or university pupils.

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"Some of our learners have explicitly mentioned that they will not apply to faculties and universities in states which could infringe on their obtain to reproductive legal rights," claimed Daniel Santos, the CEO of Prepory.

Some students have even eliminated their leading university choice or their parents' alma maters from their lists of thought. Maryland large college senior Alexis Prisco reported she experienced prepared to utilize to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, the exact school each of her mom and dad went to.

"Now my mom has warned me that I require to be pretty cautious when making use of to educational facilities in states with result in regulations," Prisco stated.

An additional university student, Nina Huang, who was arranging to use to Oberlin School in Oberlin, Ohio, which banned abortion just after cardiac activity is detected in the fetus, reported she does not want to attend a college in a state with a ban on abortions. Cardiac exercise normally occurs about six weeks into a pregnancy.

The Supreme Court's choice past month in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health and fitness Organization to overturn Roe and the subsequent ruling in Prepared Parenthood v. Casey is not the very first time large college pupils have become cautious of which universities to attend based on state rules.

In 2016, North Carolina limited the loos that transgender individuals could use, demanding transgender people to use general public bathrooms centered on the person's biological sex alternatively than identification. The regulation caused future college students to reflect on irrespective of whether to go to prime-tier schools in the point out, which includes Duke College and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Having said that, applications to UNC-Chapel Hill however increased by 14% from 2016-2017 despite the hesitancy of some students, in accordance to the outlet.

The publication pointed out that it can be still far too shortly to tell particularly how a lot the bans will have an impact on purposes to faculties and universities in the 10 states that have thoroughly banned abortion.