Brad S. Karp, Co-Chair of the Task Force on Advancing Diversity of the New York State Bar Association. Courtesy photo
In 2003, in Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 US 306 (2003), the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor predicted that in 25 years, the “use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.” That “approved interest” was the benefit of diversity in higher education.
Twenty years later, Justice O’Connor’s prediction was tested. On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court held in Students for Fair Admissions v. President of Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina (collectively SFFA) that the educational benefits of diversity did not justify race conscious college admissions and that Harvard and UNC’s programs violated the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI.
