VOA教育报道2023--US Supreme Court Rejects Race Consideration in College Admissions

US Supreme¹ Court Rejects Race Consideration in College Admissions

The United States Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the consideration of race in college admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

The decision ended affirmative action policies used by American colleges to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and other minority groups. Affirmative action is a set of policies meant to end unlawful discrimination. The policies were put in place with the idea of helping² people in a group that has been discriminated³ against in the past.

The high court's decision was six to three against the University of North Carolina (UNC) and six to two against Harvard. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson did not rule in the Harvard case because of her links to that university.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. He wrote that "the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race." He added, "Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that...an individual's identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice."

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent⁴ that the decision "rolls back decades of precedent⁵ and momentous⁶ progress." And Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson called the decision "truly a tragedy for us all."

The ruling

The justices ruled in favor of a group called Students for Fair Admissions. The group, founded by anti-affirmative action activist⁷ Edward Blum, accused UNC and Harvard of discrimination in violation⁸ of the U.S. Constitution.

On Thursday, Blum cheered the decision, saying, "Ending racial preferences in college admissions is an outcome that the vast majority of all races and ethnicities will celebrate."

Harvard and UNC had argued that they only consider race in a limited way as permitted under earlier Supreme Court rulings. The two universities said Thursday that they would follow the latest decision.

In a statement, the nation's oldest private college said, "Harvard must always be a place of opportunity, a place whose doors remain open to those to whom they had long been closed, a place where many will have the chance to live dreams their parents or grandparents could not have dreamed."

In 2003, the court ruled that the University of Michigan's law school could consider race in admissions to create "a diverse educational environment." Blum and others again asked the court in 2016 to consider the admission policy of the University of Texas at Austin. And the court ruled that the use of race in the university's admissions efforts was constitutional.

That was before three appointees of former President Donald Trump⁹ joined the court. The three, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, expanded the court's conservative majority.

Trump is a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination¹⁰. He praised the decision saying, "This is a great day for America... We're going back to all merit-based—and that's the way it should be!"

Speaking from the White House, President Joe Biden criticized the court for overturning years of precedents¹¹. Biden said, "I believe our colleges are stronger when they're racially diverse. Our nation is stronger...because we are tapping into the full range of talent in this nation." He added, "We cannot let the decision be the last word."

The Associated Press reported that federal data showed the number of nonwhite students increased by 55 percent from 2010 to 2021 at the small group of highly selective colleges known as the Ivy¹² League. That group, which included Native American, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander and biracial students, made up 35 percent of students at the schools in 2021. In 2010, that number was 27 percent.

The latest court ruling means that college officials will have to look for new ways to make decisions about the students they admit.

Words in This Story

admissions –n. (pl.) the official process of choosing students to be admitted to a school, especially a college or university

conclude –v. to come to a decision after considering choices

challenge –n. a difficult problem or task that must be dealt with and overcome

dissent –n. a formal opinion expressing disagreement

precedent –n. an earlier decision or judgement that serves as an example for issues to be decided¹³ in the present

preference –n. something that is like or wanted more than another

vast –adj. very large or wide

diverse –adj. including many different kinds of a similar thing

tap into –v. (phrasal) to take and use something that comes from a source

merit –n. a good quality or value that is earned

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

4 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

5 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

6 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

11 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

12 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。