A group of students are linking up to ban the use of affirmative action in higher education.
Students For Fair Admissions is made up of thousands of students who argue that race should not be a factor in the college admission process. They plan to take their argument to the Supreme Court now that there may be enough justices who might vote in their favor, per Politico.
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Legal strategist Edward Blum heads the group and despite its multiple losses in lower courts, they uphold the idea that white and Asian students are at a disadvantage when applying for colleges and universities.
On the group’s website they describe themselves as, “a nonprofit membership group of more than 20,000 students, parents, and others who believe that racial classifications and preferences in college admissions are unfair, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.”
Our mission is to support and participate in litigation that will restore the original principles of our nation’s civil rights movement: A student’s race and ethnicity should not be factors that either harm or help that student to gain admission to a competitive university.”
Back in 2014, Blum failed to prove Abigail Fisher, a white student who applied to the University of Texas at Austin in 2008, was not accepted due to her race. Despite the loss, he says he is committed to making the college admission process fair. “The easiest part of my job as president of Students For Fair Admissions is to convince the majority Americans that the use of race and ethnicity in college admissions is unfair,” said Blum per Politico.
A 2019 Pew Research study discovered that 73% of Americans believe institutes of higher education should not consider race when determining admittance. It also adds that white people are less likely to favor race-based admissions.
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The group plans to apply the anti-affirmative action strategy to cases against the University of Texas at Austin (again), Yale, and Harvard. But its big goal remains ultimately getting the Supreme Court to rule in its favor.
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