Quick summary: It has been almost a year and a half since the Supreme Court banned colleges from factoring race into admissions decisions. Meanwhile, legacy- and donor-based admission practices still fly unchecked. With Election Day just a few days away, the impact of this altered higher education landscape is starting to show itself. The first enrollment data from last year is trickling in, and the conversations around fair admissions, SCOTUS nominees, and student debt are being stoked once again. This weekend, we take a deeper dive into these issues, featuring reporting from Black Voice News, AsAmNews and more.
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The SCOTUS affirmative action ban, 1.5 years out
Hey, y’all,The first wave of this year’s college applicants clicked “send” on their top choices this week. It’s an exciting and celebratory moment for any student — but I’m worried for them. It all comes down to the playing field. Who gets to go to college has never been a fair shake, and what the Supreme Court did (and didn’t do) last summer made it worse (again). Now, we’re starting to see the impact, and with the election looming, students’ futures hang in the balance.In June 2023, the case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard was in front of the high court. In the end, conservative justices decided with a 6-3 majority vote that taking race into account during college admissions — AKA affirmative action — was unconstitutional. Black Voice News covered the issue at the time, writing how dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision cemented “a superficial rule of colorblindness as a constitutional principle in an endemically segregated society.” The decision is already reshaping the college admissions landscape, but to what degree is only now coming into view. As AsAmNews reports, data from last year’s admissions cycle — the first since the ruling — is starting to roll out. While experts say it can’t be directly linked to the court ruling, it is an initial look at the case’s potential impact.
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