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Experts say Supreme Court’s decision on race-based admissions could impact academia

If the Supreme Court decides to remove race as factor in the admissions process for universities, experts say the consequences could be severe.  

Affirmative Action was first established in the 1978 Supreme Court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. However, the issue is once again before the court with cases involving Harvard University and University of North Carolina. 

Class of 1950 Herman B Wells Endowed Professor and Professor of Law Luis Fuentes-Rohwer said if the U.S. had acted on the true intent of the 14th amendment, we wouldn’t be having these problems with admissions today.  

“Imagine if at that moment we had said schools and education and voting and all the things that are accompaniments of full citizenship, had we done that then, we would have a much different society,” Fuentes-Rohwer said.   

LISTEN TO:  The Supreme Court is discussing the removal of race-based admissions in schools

Mitch Willoughby Distinguished Professor of the University of South Carolina School of Law and former Richard S. Melvin Emeritus Professor Indiana University Maurer School of Law Kevin Brown said many programs, such as the Hudson & Holland Scholars Program, could be heavily impacted by this decision.  

“If we take the extreme position, that is can I consider race at all in the admissions process, the impact on Hudson & Holland I think would be devastating,” Brown said. “I don’t think that Hudson & Holland could even survive such a decision.”  

Brown said the decision could affect all of academia, including programs, scholarships, and diversity departments.   

 

Nathan Moore is a producer for Noon Edition for WFIU. He previously was a programming director for WIUX and an Investigative Reporter for Indiana’s Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism. He is studying Broadcast Journalism and Marketing at Indiana University and will graduate this upcoming fall.