FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2023
CONTACT: Emily Witt, [email protected]
AUSTIN, Texas — The Supreme Court today released a ruling that race-based university and college admissions are unlawful, effectively ending affirmative action policies.
In the opinion announcing the decision, Chief Justice Roberts emphasized that the consideration of race in the admissions process violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
Texas Freedom Network Executive Director Val Benavidez (she/her) issued the following response:
“In rolling back affirmative action, SCOTUS is reopening a dark chapter in our country’s discriminatory history. Our institutions of higher learning have been deeply influenced by that history, and accounting for race and lived experience during the admissions process was one way that we’d begun to create equitable opportunities for all. Every student, no matter the color of their skin, their family’s financial resources, or the zip code they grew up in, deserves to build a thriving future through education at our colleges and universities. Affirmative action policies are essential to ensure spaces not originally designed for minority students can be welcoming today.
“Our colleges and universities are more diverse than ever thanks to holistic admissions frameworks. We will not be still or silent as this Court continues to chip away at our collective power. We will never stop bringing to light race-based inequalities and fighting for higher education policies that ensure student bodies reflect the same diversity as our nation.”
