Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Thursday the court’s recent decision to end affirmative action in college admissions will “entrench racial segregation” in universities.
“The devastating impact of this decision cannot be overstated. The majority’s vision of race neutrality will entrench racial segregation in higher education because racial inequality will persist so long as it is ignored,” Sotomayor wrote.
Dissent by J. Sotomayor: “The devastating impact of this decision cannot be overstated. The majority’s vision of race neutrality will entrench racial segregation in higher education because racial inequality will persist so long as it is ignored.”
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) June 29, 2023
Sotomayor has defended considering a student’s race in college admissions before. In a 2014 interview with ABC host George Stephanopoulos, she said universities shouldn’t be restricted to just considering academics. (RELATED: ‘A Great Day For America’: 2024 GOP Presidential Candidates Praise SCOTUS For Affirmative Action Decision)
“What does qualifications mean in an academic setting?” Sotomayor said, “A place like Princeton could fill their entire beginning freshman class with students who have scored perfectly on undergraduate metrics.”
“They don’t do it because it would not make for a diverse class on the metrics that they think are important for success in life,” Sotomayor added.
The court voted 6-3 and 6-2 in the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) vs University of North Carolina and SFFA vs Harvard cases, respectively. The majority opinion, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, bans use of race as a standalone factor in college admissions decisions. Sotomayor dissented alongside fellow justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan.