Analysis: SCOTUS Strikes down Affirmative Action in College Admissions

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Given the legacy of slavery and discrimination in the United States, race-conscious admissions have shaped US higher education since the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. However, in one of the final rulings of its current term, the conservative majority on the US Supreme Court struck down the use of race as a factor in college admissions, overturning decades of precedent. On this edition of Encounter Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, Elise Boddie, and Legal fellow and manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Zack Smith, spar over the pros and cons of this landmark decision and discuss with host Carol Castiel, its ramifications for opportunity and diversity on college campuses and in the workplace across the United States.

Given the legacy of slavery and discrimination in the United States, race-conscious admissions have shaped US higher education since the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. However, in one of the final rulings of its current term, the conservative majority on the US Supreme Court struck down the use of race as a factor in college admissions, overturning decades of precedent. On this edition of Encounter Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, Elise Boddie, and Legal fellow and manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Zack Smith, spar over the pros and cons of this landmark decision and discuss with host Carol Castiel, its ramifications for opportunity and diversity on college campuses and in the workplace across the United States.