Two lawsuits filed Monday ask federal courts to block Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from considering race in admissions as the suit charges they are.
The complaint against UNC is based largely off an amicus brief the university filed in 2012 as part of the Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin affirmative action lawsuit, which reached the Supreme Court and is likely to return there soon. The complaint against Harvard charges that the relative stability in the racial make-up of the class shows the use of racial quotas.
Both lawsuits were filed in reaction to the Supreme Court’s opinion last year in the Fisher case, said Edward Blum, who is president of a new group acting as the plaintiff, Students for Fair Admissions. (He has also been involved in other suits challenging affirmative action.)
In that case, which is still going through the appeals process, the high court decided that university has to demonstrate that race-conscious admissions policies are the only way to achieve its diversity goals.
Harvard and UNC issued statements Monday defending their respective admissions policies.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/18/lawsuits-allege-affirmative-action-violations