The anti-affirmative-action group Students for Fair Admissions is challenging the U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s admissions policies in federal court.U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The trial challenging the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s admissions policies began to take shape Monday morning in a federal courtroom in Winston-Salem, where lawyers for both sides gave their opening arguments. Their claims revolved around specific legal questions that govern how colleges can and cannot consider race when admitting applicants.
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The anti-affirmative-action group Students for Fair Admissions is challenging the U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s admissions policies in federal court.U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The trial challenging the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s admissions policies began to take shape Monday morning in a federal courtroom in Winston-Salem, where lawyers for both sides gave their opening arguments. Their claims revolved around specific legal questions that govern how colleges can and cannot consider race when admitting applicants.
Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit led by the conservative legal advocate Edward J. Blum, argued that UNC intentionally discriminated against white and Asian-American applicants in its admissions process. Patrick Strawbridge, lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the group would prove that UNC officials weigh race too heavily when making admissions decisions and that they have not sufficiently considered race-neutral alternatives, which colleges are required to do under the 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, the landmark affirmative-action case involving the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Emails between North Carolina admissions officials will show that application decisions are commonly boiled down to just the race of the people applying, he said.
At issue are specific legal questions that govern how colleges can and cannot consider race when admitting applicants.
Strawbridge also said he would show that UNC officials try to achieve a “critical mass” of underrepresented minority students but that they have not sufficiently defined what that number is.
The university, he said, “will be unable to demonstrate that its goals of critical mass are measurable.”
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UNC’s lawyer, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, said the trial would prove that admissions officers engaged in a lawful process and that there’s no evidence to support the contention that race is ever the only factor considered when an applicant is admitted. He said no race-neutral alternatives exist that would allow UNC to achieve the racial diversity it seeks.
“UNC is not cheating in the admissions process,” he said. The university is “not hiding behind the veil.”
The goal of UNC’s admissions policies, he said, is to create a class with people from different backgrounds. It is part of the university’s educational responsibility to students, he argued.
“Let UNC continue to do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way,” Fitzgerald said.
The trial is being argued before Judge Loretta C. Biggs, whom President Barack Obama nominated in 2014 to serve on the U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem. At the start of the trial, Biggs explained that while Covid-19 cases are rising again and there are restrictions on in-person gatherings, the court believed that the significance of this case necessitated a trial. The courtroom is restricted to 25 people, she said, but there is an overflow room, and members of the public may listen to the trial via phone.
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A federal court in Boston ruled against Students for Fair Admissions one year ago in its lawsuit challenging admissions policies at Harvard University. The cases are among several affirmative-action lawsuits that could end up being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, where conservative justices recently gained a 6-3 majority. The court has long upheld colleges’ ability to consider race in admissions, including as recently as 2016 when the University of Texas won a case that was also brought by Blum.
The UNC trial is taking place in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, and is expected to last about two weeks.
Nell Gluckman is a senior reporter who writes about research, ethics, funding issues, affirmative action, and other higher-education topics. You can follow her on Twitter @nellgluckman, or email her at nell.gluckman@chronicle.com.