US High Court Reviews Race Consideration in College Admission
2022-11-01
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1The United States Supreme Court again is hearing arguments about race-based considerations in university admissions policies.
2The cases concern such policies at the University of North Carolina (UNC), a public school, and Harvard, the nation's oldest private university.
3The nation's highest court agreed to hear the legal actions after lower courts ruled in favor of both UNC and Harvard.
4The lower courts ruled that both schools followed past Supreme Court rulings, called precedents.
5It rejected accusations of discrimination against white and Asian-American students.
6In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan's law school could consider race in its admissions process to create "a diverse educational environment."
7In 2016, the court ruled that the constitution does not bar consideration of race in a case about admission at the University of Texas at Austin.
8The group Students for Fair Admissions, or SFFA, brought the legal actions against UNC and Harvard.
9The group's founder, Edward Blum, is a conservative activist.
10He brought similar legal action against the University of Texas and also organized against the Voting Rights Act.
11The SFFA argued that the Constitution bars the use of race in college admissions and called for overturning earlier Supreme Court decisions that disagreed.
12Colleges and universities can use other, race-neutral ways to build a diverse student body, it said.
13The group offered the possibility of considering a student's socioeconomic position, for example.
14It also said the schools should stop favoring applicants whose parents are former students.
15During the hearings, the justices appeared to take different sides in the dispute.
16Justice Clarence Thomas, who has a record of opposition to race consideration, said, "I've heard the word 'diversity' quite a few times and I don't have a clue what it means."
17Justice Samuel Alito compared race consideration to giving minorities a starting point closer to the finish line.
18Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is the court's newest justice and its first Black female member.
19She said UNC's admission programs are "looking at the full person with all of those characteristics."
20And Justice Elena Kagan called universities the "pipelines to leadership in our society" and suggested that without race consideration, fewer minority students could attend these colleges.
21Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar represents the Biden administration.
22She said the schools' admission policies support national security interest.
23Prelogar said, a diverse group of military officers is critical to national security.
24She said that requires race-based considerations in admissions, "including at the nation's service academies."
25A decision in today's hearing is not expected before late spring.
26I'm Caty Weaver.
1The United States Supreme Court again is hearing arguments about race-based considerations in university admissions policies. 2The cases concern such policies at the University of North Carolina (UNC), a public school, and Harvard, the nation's oldest private university. 3The nation's highest court agreed to hear the legal actions after lower courts ruled in favor of both UNC and Harvard. The lower courts ruled that both schools followed past Supreme Court rulings, called precedents. It rejected accusations of discrimination against white and Asian-American students. 4In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan's law school could consider race in its admissions process to create "a diverse educational environment." In 2016, the court ruled that the constitution does not bar consideration of race in a case about admission at the University of Texas at Austin. 5The group Students for Fair Admissions, or SFFA, brought the legal actions against UNC and Harvard. The group's founder, Edward Blum, is a conservative activist. He brought similar legal action against the University of Texas and also organized against the Voting Rights Act. 6The SFFA argued that the Constitution bars the use of race in college admissions and called for overturning earlier Supreme Court decisions that disagreed. Colleges and universities can use other, race-neutral ways to build a diverse student body, it said. 7The group offered the possibility of considering a student's socioeconomic position, for example. It also said the schools should stop favoring applicants whose parents are former students. 8During the hearings, the justices appeared to take different sides in the dispute. 9Justice Clarence Thomas, who has a record of opposition to race consideration, said, "I've heard the word 'diversity' quite a few times and I don't have a clue what it means." Justice Samuel Alito compared race consideration to giving minorities a starting point closer to the finish line. 10Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is the court's newest justice and its first Black female member. She said UNC's admission programs are "looking at the full person with all of those characteristics." And Justice Elena Kagan called universities the "pipelines to leadership in our society" and suggested that without race consideration, fewer minority students could attend these colleges. 11Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar represents the Biden administration. She said the schools' admission policies support national security interest. 12Prelogar said, a diverse group of military officers is critical to national security. She said that requires race-based considerations in admissions, "including at the nation's service academies." 13A decision in today's hearing is not expected before late spring. 14I'm Caty Weaver. 15Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English with additional reporting from The Associated Press. 16______________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18diverse - adj. made up of people and things that are different than each other 19characteristic - n. the special quality that makes a person, or group different from others 20society - n. people in a particular country, area, time