Affirmative Action After SFFA v. Harvard: The Other Defenses
74 Syracuse Law Review 1101 (2024).
77 Pages Posted: 6 Jun 2024
Date Written: April 30, 2024
Abstract
The diversity justification for race affirmative action recognized in the Bakke-Grutter-Fisher line of cases survived the SFFA v. Harvard ruling. However, the diversity rationale is scathed enough that universities should end the nearly fortyyear-old practice of relying exclusively on the institution's educational need for diversity to satisfy strict scrutiny. This Article argues that the SFFA v. Harvard ruling is a wake-up call for universities to understand and be prepared to invoke other defenses for race affirmative action in college admissions.
Keywords: SFFA v. Harvard, affirmative action, diversity, college admissions, other defenses for affirmative action, remedial affirmative action, remedial defense, Title VI, civil rights, race discrimination, strict scrutiny, Bakke, Grutter, Fisher, federal funding, antidiscrimination, anti-citizen, Kane's paradox
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