STATEMENT FROM GLAAD REGARDING U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION STRIKING DOWN RACE CONSCIOUS ADMISSIONS POLICIES AT HARVARD AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA:

“This decision inaccurately and unfairly limits access to the American dream, and drags our entire country backward, upending decades of precedent and progress. Equity for Black Americans and all people of color, including LGBTQ people, is essential to our democracy, economy and future. This decision could also open the door for challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in business settings and it is critical that companies and educational institutions respond with loud commitments to continue best practices for inclusion. Extremist justices who are out of touch with the supermajority of Americans who support equality have no business shutting doors of opportunity to anyone. Our country needs policies that ensure more people can belong, contribute and succeed. GLAAD remains side by side with all Americans and communities of color harmed by this decision. We will keep fighting until all voices, stories and people are seen, heard, and valued.”

(New York, NY, June 29, 2023) GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is responding to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in SFFA (Students for Fair Admissions) v. Harvard and SFFA v. University of North Carolina (UNC).

In a 6 to 3 vote in the UNC case and a 6 to 2 vote in the Harvard case, The Court overturned decades of Constitutional protections and precedent allowing colleges and universities to consider applicants’ race along with a multitude of other factors in their admissions practices to create diverse student communities and learning environments.

In her nearly 70-page dissent, Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson noted: “Equal educational opportunity is a prerequisite to achieving racial equality in our Nation… today, this Court stands in the way and rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress. It holds that race can no longer be used in a limited way in college admissions to achieve such critical benefits. In so holding, the Court cements a superficial rule of colorblindness as a constitutional principle in an endemically segregated society where race has always mattered and continues to matter.”

Statement from Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her/hers), President and CEO of GLAAD:“This decision inaccurately and unfairly limits access to the American dream, and drags our entire country backward, upending decades of precedent and progress. Equity for Black Americans and all people of color, including LGBTQ people, is essential to our democracy, economy and future. This decision could also open the door for challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in business settings and it is critical that companies and educational institutions respond with loud commitments to continue best practices for inclusion. Extremist justices who are out of touch with the supermajority of Americans who support equality have no business shutting doors of opportunity to anyone. Our country needs policies that ensure more people can belong, contribute and succeed. GLAAD remains side by side with all Americans and communities of color harmed by this decision. We will keep fighting until all voices, stories and people are seen, heard, and valued.”

Additional research:

• The nation’s leading higher education admissions professionals have noted factual errors in SFFA’s cases: “Individualized holistic review of individual students’ applications in the higher education admissions process does not involve “racial categorization” or “stereotyping,” as SFFA maintains.”
• Admissions professionals also noted: “for over four decades, this court has recognized the essential role that diversity serves in achieving educational missions and outcomes” and that “many thousands of members have relied for decades on the Supreme Court’s workable precedent” for considering all aspects of an applicant and their “ability to succeed, and their ability to contribute to, and benefit from, their learning environment, peers, and community.”
• Reuters reported that admissions plummeted by more than 50% for Black, Hispanic and Native American students when a voter-approved measure took effect barring the use of race-conscious admissions policies for public colleges and universities in California
• NPR/Marist Poll shows 57% of Americans support affirmative action programs in hiring, promoting and college admissions. The same poll showed ongoing declining confidence in the Court, with 59% of Americans reporting low to no confidence.
• Racism and related anti-LGBTQ extremism is on the rise: In a first-of-its-kind report released last week, the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, in partnership with GLAAD, tracked 356 anti-LGBTQ hate and extremism incidents from June 2022 to April 2023, including 305 acts of harassment, 40 acts of vandalism and 11 incidents of assault.