Supreme Court to Address Race Preferences in College Admissions

The United States Supreme Court is set to hear a case that could transform admission practices at colleges and universities across the country.

Julie Ershadi of Human Events writes:


Fisher v. University of Texas is the case brought by Abigail N. Fisher, who did not meet the University of Texas at Austin’s cutoff for automatic admission to its undergraduate program. She was also denied admission from within the general pool of applicants, for which it is the university’s policy to include race as a deciding factor.
Fisher sued the school in 2008, claiming that the race-based admissions policy was unconstitutional.
The Court could fail to resolve the case for two procedural reasons: After UT Austin rejected Fisher, she matriculated to Louisiana State University, raising the question of whether the case is a live issue any longer. Second, Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself from the case. Before she recused herself, National Review Online pointed out that doing so would open the door for a 4–4 tie on the ruling.
But Fisher’s alma mater and Kagan’s recusal are unlikely to make a difference due to Justices Anthony Kennedy and Samuel A. Alito, Jr.’s history of suspicion toward affirmative action and other race-based programs, Goldstein said.

Due to the importance of the case, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will decline to rule on the basis of it not being a "live issue."  The policy remains in place, even if the student did not attend Texas.  Also, even if the case does end in a 4-4 tie, the opinions generated will help to refine and define what colleges may do in respect to race.

West Virginia University has more restrained policies, such as the one quoted below from WVU Medical School.  It calls for the percentages of minorities to be somewhat approximate to the distribution of state population.

Although the State demographics reflect a small percentage of traditional underrepresented minorities, the School will attempt at a minimum to match our state diversity in an effort to improve the education, healthcare, and research missions for its students, faculty and the citizens of West Virginia. This is congruent with the school, health sciences center, and university strategic plans.

This policy is implemented to ensure that there are no quotas or set-asides. Regardless of an applicants’ characteristics, they are considered in the same competitive pool using the same application of University policies and procedures.  We will evaluate the effectiveness of the policy on a regular basis to see if the diversity goals for students, faculty and staff are being achieved.

Even the limited nature of WVU policies does not address the controversial issue, that race based policies do not address the main problem on many campuses.  Although physical diversity in admissions and hiring is actively desired by almost all campuses, very few pursue the idea of intellectual diversity.

Julie Ershadi's full story