This term, the Supreme Court will decide two cases concerning the future of affirmative action: Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admission v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. 

Over the next few months, Elise and Hannah will be speaking with legal scholars and education experts from across the country about affirmative action. Affirmative action and its interaction with the Supreme Court is a messy, tangled, and complicated topic with unique relevance to students and the education system. That also makes it the ideal subject for this podcast. 

Future guests will walk you through the origins of race-conscious admissions, its cultural and social significance, the diversity rationale, school choice, and anything and everything else you could want to know about affirmative action. 

Today, Elise and Hannah offer a brief introduction to affirmative action, discussing the who, what, when, where, and why of race-conscious admissions, and breaking down the four major cases the Supreme Court has heard about affirmative action: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Grutter v. Bollinger, Gratz v. Bollinger, and Fisher v. University of Texas. 

Mentioned in this episode:

• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
• Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
• Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
• Fisher v. University of Texas (2016)
• Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina (2022)
• Students for Fair Admission v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (2022)

Further reading:

• The New York Times: "Affirmative Action Was Banned at Two Top Colleges. They Say They Need it." (Stephanie Saul)
• USA Today: "Supreme Court's affirmative action cases could affect hiring, employment" (John Fritze)
• The Philadelphia Inquirer: "The Supreme Court could drop 'wrecking ball' on another legal precedent" (Devontae Torriente and Ty Parks)