Biden defends diversity in universities after Supreme Court decision against affirmative action based on race

(CNN) — The Supreme Court’s landmark decision to bar universities from considering race as specific criteria for student admissions will make it even more difficult for schools to achieve a diverse student population, say civil rights leaders and education advocates.

President Joe Biden, speaking shortly after the ruling, said the US cannot give up its pursuit of a more equal system of higher education. “We cannot allow this decision to be the last word,” he said.

“America is an idea, an idea, unique in the world, an idea of ​​hope and opportunity, of possibilities, of giving everyone a fair chance, of leaving no one behind. We’ve never quite delivered on it, but we haven’t given up on it either. we have moved away from it,” he added. “Now we won’t walk away from it.”

The elimination of affirmative action ends a long-standing precedent that has benefited disadvantaged Black and Latino students in higher education. The practice has been around since the 1960s as a tool to prevent discrimination at selective institutions, many of which historically admitted only white students.

During his speech, Biden also outlined a “new way forward” that he said is consistent with the nation’s values, but also with the Supreme Court ruling.

The president said that schools must not abandon their commitment to creating a diverse student body, and that they must continue to take into account “the adversity that a student has overcome when selecting them from qualified applicants.”

The president emphasized that, as they did before Thursday’s ruling, universities must first ensure that students have the necessary grades and test results to qualify for a place. Next, their context must be taken into account.

Biden said the types of hardship worth considering could include whether the student lacks financial means or is the first in their family to attend college.

That type of student “has shown more grit, more determination, and that should be a factor that colleges should look at in admissions,” Biden added.

“It also means looking at where the student grew up and where they went to school. It means understanding the particular difficulties each student has faced in life, including racial discrimination,” the president said.

Moments after Biden’s remarks, the White House announced a series of measures aimed at further fostering diversity at universities, including guiding schools on admissions practices.

Biden said he would direct the Department of Education “to look at what practices help create a more inclusive and diverse student body and what practices prevent it. Practices like legacy admissions and other systems that expand privilege rather than opportunity.”

He added: “We cannot go backwards. I know that today’s court decision is a great disappointment to many people, myself included, but we cannot allow the decision to be a permanent setback for the country. We have to keep an open door to opportunities “.

Criticism of the ruling

Following the court’s decision, universities across the country seeking diversity will have to find other ways to reach Black and Latino students. The task, say researchers and educational managers, will not be easy.

Wisdom Cole, national director of the NAACP’s Youth and College Division, called the rollback of affirmative action a “dark day in America.”

“Affirmative action has been a beacon of hope for generations of black students,” Cole said in a statement Thursday. “He rose as a powerful force against the insidious poison of racism and sexism, with the goal of leveling the playing field and providing a fair shot at a high-quality education for all. Students across the country are wide awake to the clear and present danger that invades their classrooms”.

The Supreme Court case was brought by conservative activist Edward Blum, who filed lawsuits in 2014 against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill challenging their use of race-based admissions. Blum and other critics of affirmative action argue that college admissions should be based on equality of criteria and merit.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the affirmative action opinion for the conservative majority, noting that the admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because they did not offer “quantifiable” objectives to justify the use of the breed. He claimed the shows involved racial stereotypes and had no specific goal.

The playing field “is not even”

Civil rights leaders and experts say the Supreme Court ruling is a setback for equality in education.

They claim that racial diversity in colleges and universities, especially the most competitive and Ivy League ones, may suffer. A study from Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce concludes that colleges and universities are less likely to meet or exceed their current levels of racial diversity in the absence of race-sensitive admissions. They are also less likely to reflect the racial makeup of the nation’s high school graduating population.

Zack Mabel, a research fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Education and the Workforce, said he expects the number of black and brown students attending selective colleges across the country to drop from 20% today to around 16% if it doesn’t apply. affirmative action. Mabel says race-neutral practices haven’t created the diversity many colleges hoped for, and some students just don’t apply.

“All it’s going to do is further discourage students from underrepresented groups from applying for space at these institutions,” Mabel said. “And it’s going to be more difficult for admissions officers to admit them because they’re not clear when they’re trying to admit these students.”

Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, said the decision only opens the door for more people with “privileges” to be admitted to selective colleges. Robinson described those applicants as athletes, legacies, students with access to test preparation services and applicants from wealthy families.

He challenged universities to avoid this disparity by offering applicants a holistic review that includes their socioeconomic background and the challenges they have overcome.

“We’re pushing universities to come up with a plan and be transparent about it,” Robinson said. “Privilege-based admissions … will only lead to a country where who you are at birth and what opportunities you were given at birth, which have nothing to do with your merits, determine where you go.”

Marshall Anthony Jr., director of research at The Institute for College Access & Success, urged President Joe Biden’s administration to take action to remove barriers to college for people of color, such as test mandates. standards, application fees, legacy admission, and merit-based aid.

“All of them disproportionately and negatively affect the access and success of Black and Latino students,” Anthony said.

The challenges of diversity

Affirmative action has already been banned in nine states, including Michigan and California, and these states could be case studies of what’s to come for the entire country, some experts say.

Universities in Michigan, which banned affirmative action in 2006, and California, which banned it in 1996, have tried racially neutral approaches, such as greater consideration of high school rank and socioeconomic status in the admissions process. admission. Even so, enrollment of black students fell at flagship schools like the University of Michigan and the universities of California, Berkeley and UCLA after the end of affirmative action.

Black student enrollment at the University of Michigan fell from 7% in fall 2006 to 4.4% in fall 2022. In recent years, the University of Michigan has implemented programs aimed at diversifying the student body, such as Go Blue Guarantee, aimed at low- and moderate-income students; Kessler Scholars, aimed at first-generation students; and Wolverine Pathways, for students from underserved communities.

University of Michigan President Santa Ono said that while the university is slowly bringing back more black students, the programs have been slow to roll out and results won’t come overnight. Ono said affirmative action provides the most immediate impact on the enrollment of diverse students.

“I just think about the number of students who could have gone to Michigan between 2006 and today and couldn’t,” Ono told CNN. “It’s part of the American dream, equal opportunity requires equal access to education as a foundation.”

Ono said diversity is important on college campuses because students can grow and learn from each other, hear different perspectives and experience an environment that is reflective of the real world.

Throughout the University of California system, black enrollment fell sharply after the state ruled against affirmative action in 1996.

According to school data, UC Berkeley’s black student enrollment was 5.9% in 1995, up from 3.8% in 2022.

Olufemi Ogundele, UC Berkeley’s assistant vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment, said the university has struggled to achieve the same level of diversity it had before affirmative action ended. University officials have invested more than $500 million in outreach to low-income communities, according to a brief filed last year in the Supreme Court by lawyers for the university. Still, Ogundele said reaching more black students has been difficult due to changing demographics in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

His office, he said, has had more success with holistic review practices that take into account factors such as the academic environment of the school system the applicant attended.

“If a student attends a center that does not teach advanced Physics or Calculus subjects, we do not take it into account,” said Ogundele.

But more black students could be admitted to the prestigious UC Berkeley if affirmative action were made legal in the state, he said.

“I think if we could take (race) into account we would see a much more diverse class,” Ogundele said.