Late June is normally a peaceful time on college campuses. Not this year.
On Zoom calls, in working groups and in text chains, officials at elite schools are anxiously preparing. Within days, the Supreme Court could bar them from considering race as a factor in the admissions process.
“The truth is many colleges and universities have been preparing for this day for a long time,” Danielle Holley, the incoming president of Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts, said in an interview.
Holley, who was dean of the Howard University School of Law for the last nine years, is well versed in the legal arguments for and against using race in college admissions. A daughter of two academics, she has been studying the case law since she was a young law student. Now, she’s focused on the practical implications of what the justices might do.
“Race is a critical part of how we do our work in higher education,” Holley said. “We don’t want tools taken away from us or our hands tied behind our back. … I’m extremely worried.”
The next scheduled day for the Supreme Court to issue rulings is Tuesday, with more rulings expected later in the week. The justices are considering a pair of affirmative action cases arising from challenges to the admissions processes at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
Both suits, which allege that the schools discriminate against Asian students (an accusation they deny), were brought by a group called Students for Fair Admissions, which is led by conservative activist Ed Blum.
The affirmative action cases are among 10 the court hasn’t yet decided as it heads into the final week of June, when its nine-month term traditionally concludes with a flurry of high-profile rulings. In addition to the affirmative action cases, the court will also rule soon on the Biden administration’s bid to revive its $400 billion federal student loan debt relief program.
Affirmative action, originally introduced to redress…
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