Harvard University has found a sneaky way to get around a recent decision by the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court declared that Harvard’s affirmative action admissions policy was in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as it used race as a factor when determining admissions.
While this ruling is undoubtedly a win for justice in America, it is important to not celebrate too soon, as the exact nature of the ruling suggests that universities have a chance to skirt the ruling.
Turns out, there is nothing in the Supreme Court’s ruling that prevents a university from “considering an applicant’s discussion of how race has affected the applicant’s life.”
So the old rule was schools can do affirmative action so long as they disguise it as being about the educational benefits of student body diversity and the new rule is they can do it so long as they disguise it as being about considering how race affected applicants lives. 🤷 pic.twitter.com/MCEN3usKsY
— Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig) June 29, 2023
As one Twitter user pointed out, “no law is without loopholes that can be exploited by a properly motivated administrative bureaucracy.”
It is undoubtedly a good thing AA is being overturned––tearing down progressive idols is always worth doing––but also, below is a good reminder that no law is without loopholes that can be exploited by a properly motivated administrative bureaucracy https://t.co/id6MRICZC3
— Lomez (@L0m3z) June 29, 2023
Should Harvard be sued again?
Yes: 100% (23 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
Sure enough, Harvard has already stated that they are going to exploit the loophole to continue with a form of affirmative action.
In a statement immediately following the ruling, one would have expected the school to make a big stink about it. Instead, Harvard readily announced that it would comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling, and it cited the loophole as its reason for doing so.
“The Court also ruled that colleges and universities may consider in admissions decisions ‘an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise,’” the statement read.
“We will certainly comply with the Court’s decision,” it continued.
The Supreme Court gave universities a narrow opening, and Harvard just announced it’s going to drive an affirmative action truck right through it. https://t.co/Icj8ubIcpn pic.twitter.com/jBD2qCcRHt
— William A. Jacobson (@wajacobson) June 29, 2023
It almost seems as if affirmative action was not completely ended, but instead, universities are adopting a sneakier form of it that does not make race a factor in the decision-making process but does still bring it into consideration.
This has led many to wonder if this will just lead to colleges and universities simply lowering their standards, or finding all new metrics by which to measure a prospective student in order to keep a form of affirmative action alive.
What comes next? Not merit-based university admissions. Instead, we’ll see the opposite.
Bolshevik madrassas masquerading as universities will eliminate admissions criteria that highlight differences in intelligence and ability — GPA, test scores, and academic achievements will… https://t.co/tzwdvyU7Rs
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) June 29, 2023
These colleges will certainly use the loophole. They think that because of the influence they wield, they can just ignore the ruling of the country’s highest court and move on.
Conservatives need to continue fighting in order to ensure that this unconstitutional and immoral policy of affirmative action is finally defeated for good.
