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The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action. But diversity on college campuses is still possible, experts say

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FILE - Activists demonstrate as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on a pair of cases that could decide the future of affirmative action in college admissions, in Washington, Oct. 31, 2022. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday, June 29, 2023, that colleges and universities must stop considering race in admissions, forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies. In a 6-3 decision, the court struck down admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

In yet another highly anticipated decision with consequences to be felt across the country, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in higher education on Thursday, rolling back more than 40 years of precedent and casting a dark cloud over diversity efforts on college campuses. The decision along party lines found that race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. “The student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. The court ruled 6-3 in the University of North Carolina case, and 6-2 against in the Harvard case. 

“Universities all across the country will begin to experiment with a whole variety of admissions techniques that are race-neutral in the sense that race is not an explicit factor, but not race-neutral in the sense that they’re intended to produce diversity,” says Jeremy R. Paul, a professor of law and former dean of the Northeastern University School of Law.

Continue reading at Northeastern Global News.

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