WASHINGTON, DC (May 4, 2022): Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court supporting Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) in its lawsuit against Harvard College and the University of North Carolina (UNC). In its brief, SLF urges the Court to end race-based admissions policies that for too long have allowed colleges to consider applicants’ skin color in the admissions process.
As SLF explains, Harvard targets and recruits high school students of certain racial groups. Admissions officers then look at the race of each applicant at every step of the process as they work through applications. They even examine the racial composition of an entire class when deciding to advance or reject an application; if a race seems underrepresented, Harvard will advance the application of a student of that race. As a result, Asian-American students who demonstrate impressive potential are rejected at a shocking rate.
Data shows that Harvard engages in unconstitutional racial balancing. Over the years, the racial makeup of each class has hardly changed:
Likewise, the percentage of Asian-American enrollment at other Ivy League schools barely moved leading up to SFFA’s lawsuit:
But in stark contrast, Caltech–a prestigious university that does not take the race of its applicants into account during the admissions process–has seen a steady increase in Asian-American enrollment over the past few decades:
Colleges claim that race-based discrimination in the admissions process is necessary to achieve diversity of thought on campus. But in a recent interview with Campus Reform, Attorney and Director of the 1A Project Cece O’Leary explained, “Diversity of thought has actually decreased over the years on college campuses. Students are self-censoring at an alarming rate. They are choosing to remain silent rather than risk saying something offensive or rather than risk being reported to a bias response team.”
O’Leary added that the SFFA lawsuits are forcing the Supreme Court to face the reality of how race-based admissions policies have contributed to campus division over the years.
SLF General Counsel Kimberly Hermann added, “Despite colleges’ claims that considering the race of applicants will produce more diversity and unity on campus, college campuses are shockingly segregated. Graduation ceremonies, student unions, and even dorm rooms are segregated by race. The time has come to stop looking at the color of one’s skin for any reason, especially in the admissions process.”
The Supreme Court has consolidated SFFA’s cases against Harvard and UNC into one. Oral argument is expected to occur in the fall of 2022.
Read full press release.