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Jan 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a
bid to bar Harvard University and the University of North Carolina
from considering race in undergraduate admissions in a case that
imperils affirmative action policies widely used to increase the
number of Black and Hispanic students on American campuses.

The justices agreed to hear appeals by a group called Students for
Fair Admissions, founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward
Blum, of lower court rulings that upheld the programs used by the
two prestigious universities to foster a diverse student population.
The cases give the court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, a
chance to end such policies.

The lawsuits accused the universities of discriminating against
applicants on the basis of race in violation of federal law or the
U.S. Constitution. Blum's group accused Harvard of discriminating
against Asian American applicants. It accused UNC of discriminating
against white and Asian American applicants.

The universities have said they use race as only one factor in a
host of individualized evaluations for admission without quotas, and
that curbing the consideration of race would result in a significant
drop in the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented
students on campus.

U.S. conservatives long have opposed affirmative action programs
used in such areas as hiring and student admissions to address past discrimination against minorities.

The case represents another signal of an assertiveness among the
conservative justices who hold a 6-3 majority, demonstrating a
willingness to rule on the most divisive issues. The justices are
already set to rule by the end of June in blockbuster challenges to
abortion rights and gun control.

Affirmative action has withstood Supreme Court scrutiny for decades,
including in a 2016 ruling involving a white student, backed by
Blum, who challenged a University of Texas policy, though the
justices have narrowed its application.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2020 ruled
that Harvard's consideration of race was not "impermissibly
extensive" and was "meaningful" because it prevented the racial
diversity of its undergraduate student body from plummeting. A
federal judge in 2019 also ruled in favor of the Ivy League school.

Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow said the Supreme Court's
decision to hear the case "puts at risk 40 years of legal precedent
granting colleges and universities the freedom and flexibility to
create diverse campus communities."


The justices took up the UNC dispute even though a lower federal
appeals court had yet to complete its review of that case. A federal
judge in 2021 found that minority students "by virtue of our
Nation's struggle with racial inequality" are less likely to be
admitted on criteria that "ignore" the racial barriers they face.

"As the trial court held, our process is consistent with long-
standing Supreme Court precedent and allows for an evaluation of
each student in a deliberate and thoughtful way," said Beth Keith,
UNC's associate vice chancellor for university communications.

'NEW DISCRIMINATION'

Blum praised the Supreme Court's decision to hear the matter.

"In a multi-racial, multi-ethnic nation like ours, the college
admissions bar cannot be raised for some races and ethnic groups but
lowered for others. Our nation cannot remedy past discrimination and
racial preferences with new discrimination and different racial
preferences," Blum said.

Blum's group sued Harvard in 2014, accusing it of violating Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on
race, color or national origin under any program or activity
receiving federal financial assistance. Harvard is a private
university founded in 1636 and located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
It receives federal funds.

The group also sued UNC in 2014, accusing it of impermissibly using
race as the main factor in admissions in violation of the U.S.
Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under
the law. UNC, located in Chapel Hill and chartered in 1789, is North
Carolina's flagship public university.

The Supreme Court first upheld affirmative action in college
admissions in a landmark 1978 ruling in a case called Regents of the
University of California v. Bakke that held that race could be
considered as a factor but racial quotas could not be used.

Blum's group asked the Supreme Court to overturn a 2003 Supreme
Court ruling in a case called Grutter v. Bollinger involving the
University of Michigan Law School that held that colleges could
consider race as one factor in the admissions process because of the
compelling interest of creating a diverse student body.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority has widened since it ruled
5-4 in favor of the University of Texas in 2016, with now-retired
conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy joining four liberal justices.
The addition of three justices appointed by Trump moved the court
rightward.

President Joe Biden's administration has backed Harvard after his
predecessor Donald Trump supported Blum's lawsuit.

The case is expected to be heard during the court's next term, which
begins in October and ends in June 2023.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-hear- challenge-race-conscious-college-admissions-2022-01-24/

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