Conservatives see their best shot in decades to get rid of race in college admissions, and they’re taking it.
As protesters across the U.S. rage against policies and practices that target African Americans, Latinos and other minorities, some of the nation’s most prestigious universities are fighting a raft of legal challenges accusing them of unfairly weighting the admissions process against Asian-American and White applicants.
Yale and Harvard are set to respond this week to two of those challenges as two more make their way through the courts. The multiple efforts to defeat race-conscious admissions, including by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department, could spur an increasingly conservative Supreme Court to revisit the process, even as the U.S. is embroiled in its fiercest struggle over race and privilege since the 1960s.
The court ruled more than four decades ago in its Bakke decision that race can be considered as one factor among many in creating a diverse class — which it has deemed an educational benefit for the whole student body — and has reaffirmed that stance over the years. Now, with Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh on the bench, alongside their conservative brethren, some see a chance to take down what they argue is bias masquerading as equity.