The U.S Supreme Court’s ruling on race-conscious admissions has many wondering how colleges and universities will now proceed. The case involved University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Harvard, but will affect all private and public schools.
Sonia Green, a junior at Duke University, is disappointed with the ruling. She said affirmative action is all about “making space for students who are already at a disadvantage.”
“I envision in the next couple of years, even less diversity when it comes to Black students, brown students, indigenous students.”
Green said she’s seen how students like herself fare at elite universities compared to those from privileged backgrounds – and, she said, there’s not much difference.
“[It] tells me that doesn’t necessarily put you at a disadvantage. It's really just about being able to get in in the first place,” said Green.
Kenny Xu graduated from Davidson College in 2019. He’s the president of Color Us United, a group that opposes race-based college admissions. Xu is ecstatic with the court’s ruling. He said Harvard used the worst stereotypes against Asian Americans to discriminate against them.
“They called them low personality individuals. They denied the accomplishment that their grades and their test scores merited them. And they purposefully crafted a rationale based not on any objective merit to lower the percentage of Asian Americans at their school,” said Xu. “This is a win for Asian American rights. It's a win for equal rights. It's a win for everybody.”
Xu said if schools want to admit students based on merit, they should eliminate legacy admissions that disproportionately help white applicants.
