As a rising high school senior trying to figure out the next several years of her life, Gabrielle Wilson sees Thursday’s Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions as a possible hurdle.
“I think if affirmative action was taken away, it would make me not as hopeful about getting into the higher institutions I would like to apply for, such as Harvard,” said Gabrielle, 17, who will be a senior at the private De La Salle Institute in Chicago this fall.
Gabrielle spoke to NBC News before the Supreme Court decision Thursday that vastly restricts race-conscious admissions.
The process, also known as affirmative action, allowed schools to consider an applicant’s race as a factor in determining admission, with the goal of creating a racially diverse student body. The court ruled on cases challenging the practice at two selective colleges, Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
The group Students for Fair Admissions Inc., led by the conservative activist Ed Blum, who is white, said the universities’ admissions policies discriminate against Asian Americans and — in the case of UNC, white applicants as well — and favor Black and Latino applicants. Meanwhile, experts have long considered affirmative action at the nation’s more selective schools to be key in helping aspiring college students counteract inequities they may have faced throughout their K-12 education.
Students of color in high schools across the country spoke to NBC News, sharing a range of concerns in the lead-up to the ruling. What was on their minds: whether they should adjust their list of application-worthy schools, confusion about the ruling itself and, in some cases, if they should completely ignore the court’s decision. Meanwhile, academic experts say they foresee ways the ruling may have broader implications beyond just eliminating race as one factor for college admissions.
Black students won’t rule out predominantly white schools — or HBCUs
Gabrielle said she…
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