Supreme Court to Hear New Affirmative Action Case: A white, female Texas student is suing the University of Texas at Austin due to alleged discriminatory admissions practices, and the Supreme Court will hear the case today, reports ABC News.
The student, Abigail Fisher, sued the school when she was denied admission in 2008. She has since graduated from Louisiana State University. The case has stirred up old arguments against affirmative action, but also new counter-arguments. "More than 90 friend of the court briefs have been filed in the case," said ABC News. One of the briefs, from the lawyers of Fortune 100 companies, said students who are educated in a more diverse system are "better equipped to understand a wider variety of consumer needs" and are "likely to generate a more positive work environment by decreasing incidents of discrimination and stereotyping." Whereas, reports ABC News, " theU.S. Commission on Civil Rights point to empirical evidence that they
said shows that race-preferential admissions policies do more harm than
good."
Though case began around Ms. Fisher's admission, it will likely determine the future of racially-weighted admissions strategies, however, the University of California has reported their student bodies are now less diverse than before they outlawed thew use of affirmative action in their admissions decisions. While the Universities have tried other systems of diversifying the population, none have been able to stem the decline of enrollment diversity. via ABC News
