US Supreme Court to hear challenge to Harvard’s race-conscious admissions

The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a bid to bar Harvard University and the University of North Carolina from considering race in undergraduate admissions in a case that imperils affirmative action policies widely used to increase the number of black and Hispanic students on American campuses.

The justices agreed to hear appeals by a group called Students for Fair Admissions, founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, of lower court rulings that upheld the programmes used by the two prestigious universities to foster a diverse student population. The cases give the court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, a chance to end such policies.

The lawsuits accused the universities of discriminating against applicants on the basis of race in violation of federal law or the US Constitution. Blum’s group accused Harvard of discriminating against Asian-American applicants. It accused UNC of discriminating against white and Asian-American applicants.

The universities have said they use race as only one factor in a host of individualised evaluations for admission without quotas, and that curbing the consideration of race would result in a significant drop in the number of black, Hispanic and other under-represented students on campus.

US conservatives long have opposed affirmative action programmes used in such areas as hiring and student admissions to address past discrimination against minorities.