29th June, 2023
The Supreme Court of the United States (US) on Thursday abolished Affirmative Action for college admissions.
America’s apex court declared that race cannot be a factor in the consideration of applicants for admission into colleges.
By this ruling, tertiary institutions in the country will need to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
According to Newsday’s report, the court’s conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest private and public colleges, respectively.
Chief Justice John Roberts said that for too long universities have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not skills built or lessons learned but the colour of their skin.
“Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice,” he said.
The news medium quotes Justice Clarence Thomas, the nation’s second Black justice who had long called for an end to affirmative action, as describing the universities’ admissions policies in the country as “rudderless, race-based preferences designed to ensure a particular racial mix in their entering classes.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”
In the same vein, US President Joe Biden is also reported to have “strongly, strongly” disagreed with the Court’s ruling, urging the colleges not to let the verdict “be the last word.”
“They should not abandon their commitment to ensure student bodies of diverse backgrounds and experience that reflect all of America,” Biden said from the White House.
He said colleges should evaluate “adversity overcome” by candidates.
Former President Barack Obama has also dissented.
He said in a statement that affirmative action “allowed generations of students like Michelle and me to prove we belonged. Now it’s up to all of us to give young people the opportunities they deserve — and help students everywhere benefit from new perspectives.”
But to former President Donald Trump, the Court’s decision marked “a great day for America.”
“People with extraordinary ability and everything else necessary for success, including future greatness for our Country, are finally being rewarded,” the current Republican presidential frontrunner said.
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