Supreme Court will reconsider Affirmative Action Case

*It may be a good thing that this is happening, in Texas specifically, because it uncovers another nagging problem. The University of Texas has a 10 percent rule, where the top 10 percent of every highschool in the state is automatically admitted to the University. The affirmative action issue pertains to the remaining slots. Some observers say the rule has diversified the UT Austin student population, but it also reveals something else: Texas schools are segregated. From this article: “over half of Hispanic students and 40 percent of black students attend a school with 90 percent-100 percent minority enrollment.” VL

By Adam Liptak, The New York Times

Supreme Court agreed on Monday to take a second look at a challenge to the use of race in admissions decisions by the University of Texas at Austin, reviving a potent challenge to affirmative action in higher education.

When the court last considered the case in 2013, supporters of affirmative action were nervous. But the court kicked the can down the road in what appeared to be a compromise decision.

In returning to the case, the court signaled that it might be prepared to issue a major decision on the role race may play in government decision making.

[pullquote][tweet_dis]”… over half of Hispanic students and 40 percent of black students [in Texas] attend a school with 90 percent-100 percent minority enrollment.”[/tweet_dis][/pullquote]

In 2013, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said the appeals court had been insufficiently skeptical of the program, which has unusual features. The appeals court then endorsed the program for a second time.

Most applicants from Texas are admitted under a part of the program that guarantees admission to the top students in every high school in the state. (This is often called the Top 10 program, though the percentage cutoff can vary by year.)

The Top 10 program has produced significant racial and ethnic diversity. In recent years, about 25 percent of freshmen who enrolled under the program were Hispanic, and 6 percent were black.

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