Presidential candidates react to Supreme Court’s Harvard, UNC affirmative action ruling

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Thursday, June 29, 2023

The United States Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the admissions policies of Harvard and the University of North Carolina could not include race as a factor in student acceptance.

In Students forFair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, the high court ruled 6-3 that the admissions programs for both schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, referencing the 2003 Supreme Court case Grutterv. Bollinger, which said “the use of racial preferences” for student admissions “will no longer be necessary” within the next 25 years.

“University programs must comply with strict scrutiny, they may never use race as a stereotype or negative, and—at some point—they must end,” wrote Roberts.

“Respondents’ admissions systems—however well intentioned and implemented in good faith—fail each of these criteria. They must therefore be invalidated under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

The ruling elicited reactions from many individuals, including presidential candidates who have already launched their campaigns for the 2024 election.

Here are five reactions from both Democrat and Republican presidential hopefuls to the news of the Supreme Court's decision concluding that race cannot be factored into student admissions.