Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Education Department has been threatened with massive budget cuts, faced repeated risk of wholesale elimination and suffered many smaller blows adding up to significant injury— and students are feeling the pain.
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a set of policies, beginning in the 1960s, that aim to increase opportunities for marginalized groups. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and an executive order, businesses that received federal funds could no longer use aptitude tests that discriminated against Black Americans. It was eventually expanded to cover women and other marginalized groups as well as universities and government agencies.
Affirmative action and racial quotas in college admissions have been challenged since the 1970s with its opponents claiming “reverse discrimination.” The Court eventually outlawed quota programs but allowed colleges to consider race as a factor in admission decisions.
In 2023, a Supreme Court decision struck down affirmative action in college admissions meaning that colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a basis of granting admission. This decision backslides decades hard-won progress for students of color seeking higher education.
Affirmative Action Survives Texas Court Challenge
Affirmative action survived a federal appellate court challenge in Texas on Tuesday. In a 2-1 split, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the University of Texas at Austin can consider race in its admissions process. Writing for the three-judge panel, Judge Patrick Higginbotham wrote, “We find force in the argument that race here […]
Supreme Court Punts on Affirmative Action Case
At the beginning of a wild week of decision-making, the Supreme Court stalled on affirmative action Monday, ruling 7-1 in favor of sending Abigail Fisher’s case back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for further examination. By re-directing Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case back to the lower court, SCOTUS avoided taking […]
Know Your November Ballot: Jobs, Wages and Economic Policy
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Ms. will be outlining state ballot initiatives and referenda of major significance to women. There are a variety of initiatives pertaining to economic policy on state ballots this November, ranging from affirmative action to teacher’s rights to union election representation. Oklahoma could join several states in banning […]
Michigan Affirmative-Action Ban Overturned
While we were all celebrating Independence Day by lighting barbecues and firing up sparklers, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals was reigniting the affirmative-action flame. Thanks to a 2-1 ruling, Michigan’s 2006 anti-affirmative action law has been deemed unconstitutional. The decision reverses a ban on affirmative action in all Michigan public institutions, including colleges […]