On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc., v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc., v. University of North Carolina (collectively “SFFA”) that Harvard and the University of North Carolina (“UNC”) violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by impermissibly considering race when making undergraduate admissions decisions.  This ruling is likely to severely curtail the consideration of race in admissions by public schools and those private colleges and universities that accept federal funding. 

In this alert, we deliberately focus on Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion, because it is the law and must be complied with.  We recognize that many of our clients will want to understand how the reasoning of this decision may impact other areas of law outside the context of higher education, as well as how they can continue working to achieve their diversity, equity and inclusion goals in light of the Court’s holdings.  In the weeks and months ahead, Patterson Belknap will consider the impact of this decision on employers as well as on the grantmaking and other programs of not-for-profit organizations.  For today, we summarize the majority opinion by Chief Justice Roberts and close by offering an initial analysis of the factors colleges and universities may still consider in making admissions decisions.

To continue reading our alert on this topic, please click here.