Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action in University Admissions In 4-3 ruling, court advises schools to continuously review race-based policies By Jess Bravin and Brent Kendall
http://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-upholds-affirmative-action-in-university-admissions-1466691615?mod=trending_now_5
WASHINGTON—A divided Supreme Court Thursday upheld racial preferences in public-university admissions, a defeat to a yearslong conservative drive to roll back affirmative action.
Writing for a 4-3 court, Justice Anthony Kennedy found that the University of Texas at Austin’s challenged plan passed constitutional muster because it was designed in a narrow way to improve diversity on campus. The school’s plan considered race as an additional factor when evaluating certain black and Hispanic applicants.
Justice Kennedy, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, said universities are defined by “intangible qualities…which make for greatness.”
“Considerable deference is owed to a university in defining those intangible characteristics, like student body diversity, that are central to its identity and educational mission,” Justice Kennedy wrote in a 20-page opinion.
At issue was a long-running lawsuit filed by Abigail Fisher, a white applicant who was denied admission by the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. She alleged that the state’s flagship university violated the Constitution’s equal-protection guarantee by giving an edge in admissions to black and Hispanic students.
“I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has ruled that students applying to the University of Texas can be treated differently because of their race or ethnicity,” Ms. Fisher said in a statement issued by the Project on Fair Representation, an organization that financed her case and has sponsored other litigation opposing government programs that benefit minorities. CONTINUE AT SITE
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