America likes to believe that institutions of higher learning are bastions of egalitarianism — open and accessible to all based solely on merit and promise. The reality, of course, is far different.
In practice, there are plenty of designations that differentiate applicants from one another, even when students’ secondary achievements, standardized test scores and extracurricular activities are comparable. One of these — race — was struck down by the Supreme Court last week as a violation of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Affirmative action was always an imperfect solution to a tempestuous American problem, but it helped bolster campus diversity and extended the promise of higher education to students who might otherwise be denied. Closing one door will not make college admissions more egalitarian — not when the court deliberately left so many others ajar — and instead could make the colorblind society to which the justices aspire even harder to reach.
