Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action at UT

Reaction to the Supreme Court decision upholding the University of Texas admissions program that takes account of race.

In a 5-3 vote, the justices upheld the judgment of the court of appeals, which had ruled in favor of the state’s including race in its admissions process.

At the time of oral arguments, the late Justice Antonin Scalia spawned the hashtag #StayMadAbby, and was criticized when he suggested that it might not be a “good thing” for UT to admit as “many blacks as possible”, and that perhaps black students should attend a “slower track school”.

Fisher did not graduate in the top 10 percent of her class, which would have guaranteed her a spot at UT.

UW-Madison will not have to change its affirmative action policies after the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the use of race in college admissions, officials said.

A University of Texas graduate, Blum searched a couple of years for a plaintiff to challenge the admissions policy and found her in Fisher, the daughter of a former business associate.

In 2003, the justices reaffirmed the consideration of race in the quest for diversity on campus. University of Texas utilizes two admissions systems.

Hence the Transportation Security Administration could apply extra scrutiny to Muslims going through screening – for no other reason than Islam’s heightened association with terrorism – under the same rationale blessed by the court in Fisher, according to Banzhaf. The rest are admitted using a combination of factors that include academic achievement and race and ethnicity.

The abortion case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, stems from a Texas law passed in 2013 that requires all abortion providers to adhere to the same building standards as outpatient surgical centers. Alito complained the court should not side with Texas “because it is exhausted of this case”.

Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called the decision “a win for all Americans”, while the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, likewise praised the decision as a recognition of the benefits of diversity. For about 25 percent of other students, the school bases its acceptance decision on several factors, including the student’s race. Alito asked. Joining him in dissent were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas.

In the majority opinion, they did say that Thursday’s decision, “does not necessarily mean the University may rely on that same policy without refinement”.

With the death of Scalia in February and with Justice Elena Kagan sitting out the case because she worked on it while serving in the Justice Department, just seven justices participated in the decision. “Or whether cross-racial understanding has been adequately achieved?”

Instead, she went to Louisiana State University, from which she graduated in 2012, and pursued her lawsuit.

“As long as universities like the University of Texas continue to treat applicants differently by race and ethnicity, the social fabric that holds us together as a nation will be weakened”, added Blum, president of the Project on Fair Representation.

The case had threatened the use of racial preferences not only at the University of Texas-Austin but across the nation, since the court’s ruling could have cast doubt on most affirmative action policies.