|
In July 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan has a constitutional backing to institute race-conscious affirmative action where such preference is a "plus" or supplemental factor. But, the opinion for the undergraduate quota case (Gratz v. Bollinger) re-confirms Justice Powell's opinion in the Bakke case that said race-conscious admissions programs cannot "insulat [e] each category of applicants with certain desired qualifications from competition with all other applicants" [34]. Therefore, any institution cannot constitutionally implement a race-based quota system, but may pursue race-based preference in the admissions process if they have a compelling interest (i.e. to seek diversity).
|