Affirmative Action in Jeopardy After Justices Raise Doubts

The justices are hearing arguments Monday in challenges to policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard that consider race among many factors in evaluating applications for admission

By Mark Sherman and Jessica Gresko • Published October 31, 2022 • Updated on October 31, 2022 at 6:48 pm

FILE - Students walk through Harvard Yard, April 27, 2022, on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. — Charles Krupa/AP (File)

Members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority are questioning the continued use of affirmative action in higher education. In lengthy arguments Monday, the justices wrestled with persistent, difficult questions of race. The justices heard from six different lawyers in challenges to policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard. Those policies consider race among many factors in evaluating applications for admission. One conservative justice likened affirmative action to giving some college applicants a head start in a footrace. But a liberal justice said universities are the “pipelines to leadership in our society” and suggested that without affirmative action minority enrollment will drop.

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