The Supreme Court is in the midst of hearing two cases which could enable them to roll back affirmative action colleges and universities use for admissions.
Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina both ask the Supreme Court to overrule Grutter v. Bollinger, in which a divided Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan Law School could consider race in its admissions process.
But at the time of the Grutter decision in 2003, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who held with the majority opinion, stated, “We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary.”
Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) argues that Harvard has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating based on race while still obtaining federal funding. SFFA challenges the University of North Carolina by accusing it of violating the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause by using race in its admissions policy when the university already has a diverse student body.
