By Elizabeth Silva
The U.S. Supreme Court, by a 7-1 vote on Monday, sent the Fisher v. University of Texas case to an appeals court for further review on the claim that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit did not review the university’s policy with enough scrutiny.
According to the Supreme Court, “the Fifth Circuit must assess whether the University has offered sufficient evidence to prove that its admission program is narrowly tailored to obtain the educational basis of diversity.”
Abigail Fisher, a Caucasian woman who was rejected by University of Texas—Austin and sued the school on the basis of its race-conscious admissions program, could be celebrating the provisional victory.
The ruling on affirmative action brings up much controversy and is the latest court ruling since University of Michigan, Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003.
For Asian American students, affirmative action is a highly relevant topic after a 2009 study by Princeton professor, Thomas Espenshade, which demonstrated that Asian Americans need to score 140 points higher than Caucasian students to be admitted into elite schools.
Although a 2000 Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research survey demonstrated that 63% of Asian Americans believed affirmative action to be beneficial for the community, there is controversy in the Asian American community with groups on both sides on the issue.
To read more about today’s Supreme Court ruling and Asian American perspectives on affirmative action, please see the following links:
