SCOTUS Affirmative Action ruling could hurt companies’ employee pipeline
The Supreme Court voted to strike down Affirmative Action on Thursday in a landmark ruling; Affirmative Action historically helped Black and Latino students in higher education.
WASHINGTON D.C. (WVLT) - A landmark Supreme Court ruling got rid of Affirmative Action in colleges and universities on Thursday.
Schools can no longer take race into consideration for a student’s application.
The court released rulings in two Affirmative Action cases. One of them surrounds Harvard University, and the other involves the University of North Carolina.
Justices ruled six to three in the UNC case, and six to two in the Harvard case. The Supreme Court said the admissions programs violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
“I know today’s court decision is a severe disappointment to so many people, including me,” President Joe Biden said. “But, we cannot let the decision be a permanent setback for the country.”
Affirmative Action required schools to take race into account when reviewing a student’s application.
Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement, “Colleges and universities should admit students based on their individual experiences, and not be evaluated on the basis of race.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the ruling, “Rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”
The court’s ruling may not only impact students, but businesses too.
“Almost every study shows you that diversity in your employee population, in your board of directors, in your leadership team, is good for business,” Sarah Reynolds said, Chief Marketing Officer of HiBob, an HR company.
“Key pipeline of highly skilled talent that’s coming out of these leading universities is now going to look different going forward,” Reynolds said. “And that means that they need to think differently about how are they going to build a strong pipeline.”
Randy Boyd, President of the University of Tennessee, reacted to the news by saying, “We are aware of the court’s decision and are reviewing any potential impact on the University of Tennessee. Our focus on access, retention and engagement, as well as our commitment to the mission of the UT System remains unchanged: to serve all Tennesseans and beyond through education, discovery and outreach.”
A recent CBS poll revealed that 70% of Americans do not think colleges should consider a student’s race in the admissions process.
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