Biden administration officials offered colleges and universities suggestions on Monday for circumventing the Supreme Court’s ruling that effectively barred racial preferences in admissions, saying schools should consider applicants’ essays on race and ditch “legacy” policies.
The Education and Justice departments issued documents, which are not legally binding, advocating a continued focus on recruiting minorities and encouraging college admissions offices to consider an applicant’s “individual background and attributes.”
“The resources issued by the Biden-Harris administration today will provide college leaders with much-needed clarity on how they can lawfully promote and support diversity, and expand access to educational opportunity for all following the Supreme Court’s disappointing ruling on affirmative action,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. “For higher education to be an engine for equal opportunity, upward mobility and global competitiveness, we need campus communities that reflect the beautiful diversity of our country.”
The guidance proposes that schools reconsider whether application fees, standardized testing requirements, prerequisite courses such as calculus, or early decision timelines “are inadvertently screening out students who would thrive and contribute greatly on campus.”
The administration also walks through scenarios of how college admissions offices could consider an applicant’s race.
“For example, a university could consider an applicant’s explanation about what it means to him to be the first Black violinist in his city’s youth orchestra or an applicant’s account of overcoming prejudice when she transferred to a rural high school where she was the only student of South Asian descent,” the guidance states.
“An institution could likewise consider a guidance counselor or other recommender’s description of how an applicant conquered her feelings of isolation as a Latina student at an overwhelmingly white high school to join the debate team,” it says.
Mr. Cardona said the documents “will provide college leaders with much-needed clarity on how they can lawfully promote and support diversity and expand access to educational opportunity for all.”
Students for Fair Admissions, the group that successfully challenged affirmative action policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, did not respond to a request for comment.
President Biden has criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling on June 29 and said of the conservative majority, “This is not a normal court.”
At the time, the president proposed a “new standard” for college admissions “where colleges take into account the adversity a student has overcome.” He said he would direct the Department of Education to find new ways to promote diversity in higher education.
In the 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the Supreme Court ruled that the universities discriminated against White and Asian American applicants by using race-conscious admissions policies that benefited Black and Hispanic applicants.
Biden officials said Monday that nothing in the high court’s ruling prevents schools from taking various steps to ensure a diverse student body.
“Educational institutions must ensure that their admissions practices do not create barriers for students based on any protected characteristics, including race,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights. “We remain firmly committed to equitable educational opportunities for all students and ensuring that students of color are not denied opportunities to participate in the robust exchange of ideas and experiences that are the keystone of college and university life.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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