Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Conservative Activists, Striking Down Race-Conscious Admission Policies of Harvard and UNC

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of conservative activists, striking down race-conscious admission policies of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. The court ruled 6-3 in the University of North Carolina case and 6-2 in the Harvard dispute, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recusing herself.

The court effectively overturned the 2003 ruling Grutter v. Bollinger, in which the court said race could be considered as a factor in the admissions process because universities had a compelling interest in maintaining diverse campuses.

The Supreme Court ruled that both programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and are therefore unlawful. In doing so, the court scrapped decades of precedent including one that allowed universities to consider race as a factor in admissions.

The ruling is likely to end the systematic consideration of race in the admissions process, and will have a major impact on higher education nationwide. The decision is a major victory for conservative activists and will likely have a lasting effect on college admissions policies.