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‘Fisher’ in Context: Making Sense of the Decision

abigail fisher
Susan Walsh, AP Images

The Supreme Court’s latest ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin put an end to one of the most closely watched legal fights in higher education. The court upheld the Austin campus’s race-conscious admissions policy, but said that the university has an “ongoing obligation to engage in constant deliberation and continued reflection regarding its admissions policies.”

So there’s still much to say about the future of race in admissions. Here, from The Chronicle‘s archives, is a collection of articles that puts Fisher in a broader campus context.

Abigail Fisher sued the U. of Texas in 2008 over its race-conscious admissions policy, but while her case inched through the courts, the world changed around it.
Admissions
As ‘Fisher’ Churned, Conversations About Campus Diversity Evolved
By Eric Hoover
Shifts in economics and student demographics, along with resurgent activism, have altered the tenor of the discussion about affirmative action over the past eight years.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming the U. of Texas at Austin’s consideration of race in admissions. He praised Texas for having offered a reasoned, principled explanation of its policy, but also warned that the court’s decision "does not necessarily mean the university may rely on that same policy without refinement" in the future.
Race in Admissions
Race-Conscious Admissions Policies Just Got Easier to Defend
By Peter Schmidt
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of the University of Texas both fleshes out how colleges can stay out of legal trouble and blunts some of the weapons used to attack affirmative action.
Twice in three years, the Supreme Court has wrestled with the nuances of the U. of Texas at Austin’s plan for molding a diverse campus-learning environment. Thursday’s decision is not a free pass for race-conscious admissions, but instead suggests that colleges have latitude to pursue student diversity in the interest of benefiting education.
Commentary
The Supreme Court Frees Colleges to Sensibly Pursue Diversity
By Lorelle L. Espinosa, Peter McDonough
The Fisher II decision signals, in a time of deep unrest, that race matters.
Commentary
5 Lessons to Take From the Fisher Decision
By Arthur L. Coleman
The Supreme Court has struck a delicate balance between judicial review and the deference due to educational judgments informed by evidence. Colleges can learn from that.
Tadarrayl Starke (right), director of a Florida State U. program that provides academic support for low-income and first-generation students, talks to Pauline Muturi, a freshman.
Admissions
Colleges Contemplate a Race-Neutral Future
By Eric Hoover
More admissions deans plan for a day when they must don blindfolds and admit a class without considering race.
Sixth-graders tour the U. of Maryland at College Park. Colleges are using this century’s tools 
to recruit prospective students even as they use the last century’s formula to select them.
Students
College Admissions, Frozen in Time
By Eric Hoover
In an era of innovation, higher education clings to an age-old system fueled by debatable metrics.
Protesters stand outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in 2012, as the justices heard arguments in a case involving affirmative action at the University of Texas. The court’s decision to rehear the case this week gives it a chance to further limit colleges’ efforts to meet rising student demands for more diversity.
Legal
The Supreme Court Could Fuel Campus Unrest in Ruling on Race in Admissions
By Peter Schmidt
A case involving affirmative action at the University of Texas gives the justices a chance to further limit colleges’ efforts to meet rising student demands for more diversity.
Abigail Fisher (right) arrived at a federal courthouse in Austin last month for a hearing in her case against the U. of Texas.
Legal
What the Supreme Court Will Be Asking as It Revisits Affirmative Action
By Peter Schmidt
In hearing a challenge to race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas at Austin, the justices are likely to focus on applying established limits on such policies, not scrapping them.
Two U. of Texas at Austin students, Samantha Robles and Josh Tang, have worked to build campus awareness of the Supreme Court case. "I can't imagine turning a blind eye to something like the Fisher case," says Mr. Tang, who was admitted under the holistic-review policy at issue in the lawsuit.
The View From Austin
On U. of Texas’ Flagship Campus, Soul-Searching Over Diversity
By Libby Sander
The case is echoing across the University of Texas’s flagship, and for some students, it’s personal.
Admissions
7 Myths About Campus Diversity
By Eric Hoover
One expert offers suggestions for admissions officials who wonder how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in a key affirmative-action case.
Even at public colleges where state bans on affirmative action are in effect, including the U. of Washington (pictured), officials paid close attention to the Supreme Court's decision on Monday.
Students
For Admissions Offices, Supreme Court’s Ruling Prolongs ‘Fuzziness’
By Eric Hoover
Even in states with bans on affirmative action, admissions offices at public colleges anxiously awaited a ruling on race-conscious admissions.
Legal
Fisher v. Texas: Where the Justices Stood
The Supreme Court’s 7-to-1 decision in an affirmative-action case involving the University of Texas at Austin featured four separate opinions.
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