On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments regarding challenges to race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on Oct. 31.
The justices announced in January they would hear oral arguments brought by the conservative nonprofit group Students for Fair Admissions. However, because Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pledged to recuse herself from hearing the Harvard case due to her previous role on the university's Board of Overseers, the Justices have agreed to decouple the cases. Oral arguments are slated to last an hour for each, and all nine justices will hear arguments related to Chapel Hill.
SSFA argues that Asian Americans are unfairly disadvantaged by admission policies and are admitted at a lower rate than white applicants despite having higher test scores on average.
Since the 1960s, race-based affirmative action has become a common practice to help boost admission chances for disadvantaged racial minorities.
The University of North Carolina is one of the nation's leading public universities. Although Harvard is a private institution, SSFA has challenged the school because it receives federal funding and has accused the school's policies of violating civil rights law by discriminating on the basis of race.
On Monday, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott of Virginia and 64 Democrat colleagues filed a brief calling on the Supreme Court justices to reject the challenges to the affirmative action policies. The brief serves as a reinforcement of the position held by President Joe Biden's Department of Justice.
Per the Washington Examiner:
“Narrowly tailored admissions policies that recognize race as one criterion — out of many criteria for evaluating prospective students — are a key tool to realize diverse learning environments and address continued educational inequity,” Scott wrote in a statement issued Tuesday.
Conversely, SSFA's lawsuits have already been supported by top Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
The fall 2022 term is slated to begin with oral arguments in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 3
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For the year 2040???
Equality for Whites, now!