Earlier today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in cases challenging Harvard's and the University of North Carolina's use of racial preferences in admissions. The plaintiffs contend that Harvard and UNC's admissions policies violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and that UNC—as a state institution—is also in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (which restricts discrimination by the government, but not that by private parties). Harvard and UNC argue that their policies promote educationally valuable "diversity," a purpose for which previous Supreme Court rulings Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Fisher v. University of Texas II (2016) allow at least some use of racial preferences.
