(The Center Square) – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s top leaders vow lawful compliance in decisions for admitting students.
Statements from Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and trustees Chairman David Boliek Jr. expressed a mix of disappointment and a pledge of commitment in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday. Reactions of key political leaders across the state ran along party lines, with Democrats upset and Republicans happy.
In Students for Fair Housing v. University of North Carolina, the justices ruled 6-3 race cannot be a factor in admissions. Though the court creates buzz as conservative dominant, the nine justices are more diverse than ever with four women, two Blacks and one Latina.
The court’s three liberal justices – Elana Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson – dissented.
Guskiewicz said, “Carolina remains firmly committed to bringing together talented students with different perspectives and life experiences and continues to make an affordable, high-quality education accessible to the people of North Carolina and beyond. While not the outcome we hoped for, we will carefully review the Supreme Court’s decision and take any steps necessary to comply with the law.
“I know that this decision may raise questions about our future and how we fulfill our mission and live out our values. But Carolina is built for this, and we have been preparing for any outcome.”
Established in 1789 and the nation’s first public university, Boliek says it will continue to lead.
“On behalf of the people of our state, we will work with the administration to ensure that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill complies fully with today’s ruling from the nation’s highest court,” he said. “We intend for America’s oldest public university to keep leading.”
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, hitting the university for use of “color of their skin” rather than “challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned.” Justice Clarence Thomas, the nation’s second Black justice, was a lightning rod on social media posts and wrote separately that the decision “sees the universities’ admissions policies for what they are: rudderless, race-based preferences designed to ensure a particular racial mix in their entering classes.”
Among the statements that were put out:
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said, “This decision undermines decades of progress made across the country to reduce systemic discrimination and promote diversity on campuses which is an important part of a quality education.”
U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., tweeted, “SCOTUS has ruled affirmative action to be unconstitutional, prohibiting race-based admissions in educational institutions. Affirmative action picks winners & losers based on the color of their skin rather than merit. This is a tremendous victory & I applaud the Court’s decision.”
U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., issued a statement saying, “Promoting racial diversity on college campuses unlocks more opportunities for communities of color and supports the education of all students. Today, the Supreme Court has seriously jeopardized our nation’s painful progress toward equality in education.”
N.C. State, led by Chancellor Randy Woodson, issued a university statement not attributable to an individual saying the ruling was under review and the law would be followed. The statement, in part, said, “N.C. State has every intention of continuing our critical public land-grant university tradition of admitting and serving talented and ambitious students from across North Carolina and beyond. We remain committed to providing the opportunity of a transformative N.C. State education to future leaders from all backgrounds, experiences and interests.”
Anderson Clayton, chairwoman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said in a statement, “Today’s decision attempts to roll back decades worth of progress on reducing systemic discrimination and promoting diversity, particularly on our college campuses. We must renew our commitment to racial equity, and we will continue working to ensure that North Carolinians of all races are able to access the beliefs of the best public universities in the nation.”
The North Carolina Republican Party did not post a statement on its website prior to this publication. On its Twitter feed, there were several retweets including of national GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel writing, “No student should be denied an education because of where they are from, what zip code they live in, or the color of their skin. We applaud today’s Supreme Court decision.”
The Center Square reached out to two of the five historically black colleges and universities within the UNC System, which includes 16 universities plus the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics for high schoolers. No response had been received before this publication; statements in response were not found on any of the five HBCU websites.
In a separate case once conjoined with the UNC litigation, justices similarly ruled 6-2 in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. In that case, Jackson did not participate because of her previous role as a member of an advisory governing board.
