US High Court to Review Race Consideration in College Admission
2022-01-30
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review a legal effort aiming to overturn the consideration of race in college admissions.
2The court's ruling could affect affirmative action policies used to increase diversity at American colleges.
3Affirmative action is a set of policies designed to end unlawful discrimination.
4It is also used to help people in a group that has been discriminated against in the past.
5The nation's highest court said Monday that it will hear the appeal by a group called Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
6The group is founded by Edward Blum.
7He has worked for many years to fight against racial consideration in the college admission process.
8The SFFA accused the universities of discriminating against applicants based on race in violation of federal law or the U.S. Constitution.
9It claimed Harvard has discriminated against Asian Americans with higher test scores and chosen to admit Black and Hispanic students with lower grades.
10But Harvard said the school only considers race in a way that earlier Supreme Court cases have permitted.
11Harvard President Lawrence Bacow said in a statement that its admission policy "produces a more diverse student body which strengthens the learning environment for all."
12The university also noted that its share of Asian Americans has grown in recent years.
13Harvard reports that nearly 26 percent of the latest first-year students are Asian-American.
14Black students make up 16 percent and Hispanic students are 12.5 percent of the class.
15Two lower courts agreed with Harvard's argument and ruled that while its admission policy is "not perfect," it is "constitutional."
16The decisions were based on 40 years of Supreme Court rulings related to affirmative action.
17The Supreme Court first ruled in 1978 that race could be considered in college admission.
18But the decision banned the Medical School of the University of California at Davis from establishing racial quotas.
19In other words, schools cannot set aside a percentage or number of students for admission based on race alone.
20The high court again ruled in 2003 that the University of Michigan's law school could consider race in its admission process to create "a diverse educational environment."
21In the latest filing, Edward Blum and the SFFA asked the court to overturn its own 2003 ruling in the University of Michigan case known as Grutter v. Bollinger.
22It is the second time that Blum has tried to appeal the court to end the consideration of race in college admission.
23In 2016, Blum and others asked the court to review the admission policy of the University of Texas at Austin.
24But the court followed its earlier decisions and ruled that the use of race in the university's admissions efforts was constitutional.
25Since 2016, two of the justices who voted to support the use of affirmative action in college admission are no longer on the court.
26The addition of three new justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett has greatly expanded the court's conservative majority.
27And the upcoming retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer is not expected to change its make-up.
28The administration of former President Donald Trump had backed Blum's case against Harvard.
29It also filed legal action alleging discrimination against Asian American and white people at Yale University.
30But the administration of President Joe Biden recently dropped the case against Yale.
31It also urged the Supreme Court to stay away from the case against Harvard and UNC and asked the court not to take the "extraordinary step" of overruling the 2003 decision.
32The Supreme Court will review the Harvard and UNC cases later this year and issue a ruling sometime in 2023.
33"A striking out of affirmative action will certainly be devastating to Black applicants. It will be very, very harmful to Latinx applicants."
34That is Kevin Brown, a professor at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University.
35Brown said affirmative action enabled Black students like him to go to law school at Yale in the early 1980s.
36It helped white students to learn new ideas from Black students in discussion groups.
37Some of these law students who got to know Black students for the first time are now lawyers, professors, and judges, he said.
38"What you're also taking away from the white students is this multicultural background, which means when they become the decision-makers of our society, they are most likely to make some very bad decisions because they don't have enough experience dealing with the different races and ethnicities and cultures that exist in the U.S."
39I'm Dan Friedell.
1The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review a legal effort aiming to overturn the consideration of race in college admissions. The court's ruling could affect affirmative action policies used to increase diversity at American colleges. 2Affirmative action is a set of policies designed to end unlawful discrimination. It is also used to help people in a group that has been discriminated against in the past. 3The nation's highest court said Monday that it will hear the appeal by a group called Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The group is founded by Edward Blum. He has worked for many years to fight against racial consideration in the college admission process. 4The SFFA accused the universities of discriminating against applicants based on race in violation of federal law or the U.S. Constitution. It claimed Harvard has discriminated against Asian Americans with higher test scores and chosen to admit Black and Hispanic students with lower grades. 5But Harvard said the school only considers race in a way that earlier Supreme Court cases have permitted. Harvard President Lawrence Bacow said in a statement that its admission policy "produces a more diverse student body which strengthens the learning environment for all." 6The university also noted that its share of Asian Americans has grown in recent years. Harvard reports that nearly 26 percent of the latest first-year students are Asian-American. Black students make up 16 percent and Hispanic students are 12.5 percent of the class. 7Two lower courts agreed with Harvard's argument and ruled that while its admission policy is "not perfect," it is "constitutional." The decisions were based on 40 years of Supreme Court rulings related to affirmative action. 8Affirmative action rulings 9The Supreme Court first ruled in 1978 that race could be considered in college admission. But the decision banned the Medical School of the University of California at Davis from establishing racial quotas. In other words, schools cannot set aside a percentage or number of students for admission based on race alone. 10The high court again ruled in 2003 that the University of Michigan's law school could consider race in its admission process to create "a diverse educational environment." 11In the latest filing, Edward Blum and the SFFA asked the court to overturn its own 2003 ruling in the University of Michigan case known as Grutter v. Bollinger. It is the second time that Blum has tried to appeal the court to end the consideration of race in college admission. 12In 2016, Blum and others asked the court to review the admission policy of the University of Texas at Austin. But the court followed its earlier decisions and ruled that the use of race in the university's admissions efforts was constitutional. 13What has changed? 14Since 2016, two of the justices who voted to support the use of affirmative action in college admission are no longer on the court. 15The addition of three new justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett has greatly expanded the court's conservative majority. And the upcoming retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer is not expected to change its make-up. 16The administration of former President Donald Trump had backed Blum's case against Harvard. It also filed legal action alleging discrimination against Asian American and white people at Yale University. 17But the administration of President Joe Biden recently dropped the case against Yale. It also urged the Supreme Court to stay away from the case against Harvard and UNC and asked the court not to take the "extraordinary step" of overruling the 2003 decision. 18The Supreme Court will review the Harvard and UNC cases later this year and issue a ruling sometime in 2023. 19"A striking out of affirmative action will certainly be devastating to Black applicants. It will be very, very harmful to Latinx applicants." 20That is Kevin Brown, a professor at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University. 21Brown said affirmative action enabled Black students like him to go to law school at Yale in the early 1980s. It helped white students to learn new ideas from Black students in discussion groups. Some of these law students who got to know Black students for the first time are now lawyers, professors, and judges, he said. 22"What you're also taking away from the white students is this multicultural background, which means when they become the decision-makers of our society, they are most likely to make some very bad decisions because they don't have enough experience dealing with the different races and ethnicities and cultures that exist in the U.S." 23I'm Dan Friedell. 24Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English based on reporting by Reuters, the Associated Press, and his interview with Indiana University's Brown. 25What do you think the Supreme Court will decide about Affirmative Action? Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 26___________________________________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28diverse - adj. different from each other 29applicant - n. someone who asks for something, like a job or entrance to a college 30allege - v. to state something without proof 31devastate - v. to destroy something or cause great damage 32grade - n. a number or letter that shows how a student performed on a test or in a class 33quota - n. an official limit on the number of things or people that is allowed 34latinx - adj. a way of describing people who are of Latin American or Hispanic identity in the U.S. without using a gender