Receiving an acceptance letter from Harvard University is seen as the American golden ticket — official entry into a college that has produced eight U.S. presidents, more billionaires and millionaires than most any other schools, and some of the world’s most lauded thinkers.
Harvard is also notoriously hard to get into, with only 3.2% of last year’s applicants gaining admission.
That combination of privilege and exclusivity helps explain why Harvard was at the center of the Supreme Court case that on Thursday ended affirmative action in college admissions, effectively bringing an end to the use of race-conscious policies across the nation’s campuses. In writing the majority decision, Chief Justice John Roberts noted that college admissions are “zero-sum,” and that by opening doors for some applicants, others are shut out.
In a statement, Harvard said it will “certainly comply” with the Supreme Court’s decision, but added that “diversity and difference are essential to academic excellence.” In a video statement, Harvard president-elect Claudine Gay said the decision will “change” the way it pursues diversity, but didn’t disclose specifics.
The future for Harvard’s admissions process may be surmised by looking at several states that have already banned the use of race in college admissions. They include some of the most populous U.S. states, including Arizona, California and Florida.
“If you consider schools like [University of California] Berkeley and UCLA, the most selective public universities in the state, they saw declines in enrollment of Black and Hispanic students almost immediately,” said Nolvia Delgado, the executive director of the Kaplan Educational Foundation, which seeks to help underserved students attend college.
The Supreme Court decision “will definitely impact those numbers” at Harvard and other colleges, she added.
Read more at CBSnews.comhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/affirmative-action-harvard-supreme-court-who-gets-in-and-why/
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