Two weeks ago, the Court struck down race-conscious affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University. In the first of many episodes to come, Elise and Hannah break down the opinion with Lisa Stulberg, a professor of sociology at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Chief Justice Roberts' opinion answered some of our questions — universities will no longer be able to consider race as they historically have, and this Court no longer sees diversity as a compelling enough reason for affirmative action. But it also raised SO many questions about the future of college admissions and the higher education landscape: Will colleges use socioeconomic status as a proxy for race? Why do the justices fundamentally disagree on the role of racism in American society? What will the Common Application look like next fall? Elise, Hannah, and Professor Stulberg weighed all of those questions, and more, in this episode, so take a listen. And they'll be back in two weeks with more questions (and maybe, more answers).
Mentioned in this episode:
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College (2023)
Regents of Univ. of California v. Bakke (1978)
Further reading:
"Research and Analyses on the Impact of Proposition 209 in California" (University of California)
"The Living Memory of Derek Bell" (The Harvard Crimson)
"The Other Way the Supreme Court is Nullifying Precedent" (Politico)