In an expected move, the anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) appealed a recent federal court decision upholding the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's use of race in admissions to the U.S. Supreme Court, reported Reuters and Inside Higher Ed.
SFFA petitioned the court to fast-track the case and combine it with a similar case challenging Harvard's admissions policies. The group filed suit against both institutions in 2014, alleging that universities' admissions policies discriminated against Asian American, and in the case of UNC, white applicants.
"If the Supreme Court decides, as it should, to reconsider racial preferences in college admissions, it should consider that question in the context of both a private school and a public school," SFFA President Edward Blum said in a statement.
The group's petition also asks the court to overturn the landmark 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger ruling that has shaped admissions policies for nearly two decades. If the 6-3 conservative court agrees to hear the case, it could potentially issue a sweeping ruling striking down the use of racial distinctions in higher education admissions.
Related Links
Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/affirmative-action-opponents-ask-us-supreme-court-take-unc-harvard-cases-2021-11-12/
Inside Higher Ed
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/11/12/unc-affirmative-action-case-appealed-supreme-court