The University of Minnesota said it will no longer consider race or family heritage for admissions after the US Supreme Court declared affirmative action unconstitutional.
An update to the university’s “holistic review” page states that the school no longer considers race and ethnicity or family or work attendance as “contextual factors” for admissions.
“The application will request this optional information for recruitment and communication purposes about the programs and services offered,” the university said. “The information will not be provided to application reviewers and will not be considered at any point during the admissions decision process at the University of Minnesota.”
The change comes after the Supreme Court rejected the use of race as a factor in college admissions in June.
SUPREME COURT REJECTS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION TO BRING UNIVERSITIES TO USE RACE IN IMPLEMENTATION DECISIONS
The University of Minnesota said it will no longer consider race as a factor for admission following a Supreme Court ruling that declared affirmative action unconstitutional. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
In a landmark 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts write the majority opinion that, “A benefit to a student who overcomes racial discrimination, for example, must be related to of that student courage and determination.”
“Or a benefit to a student whose heritage or culture motivates him to assume a leadership role or achieve a particular goal must be related to of that student unique ability to contribute to the university. In other words, the student should be treated based on his experiences as an individual – not on the basis of race,” the opinion read.
Abortion rights demonstrators gather near the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on June 24, 2022. (Nikolas Liepins/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“Many universities have long since done the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that the cornerstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges faced, skills developed, or lessons learned but the color of their skin.
The ruling forces colleges and universities across the country to scrap admissions policies designed to boost campus diversity by giving preference in admissions to certain ethnic or racial minority applicants. It also put pressure on the nation’s top schools to reconsider legacy admissions — the practice of admitting an applicant based on their family ties to the institution — which activists claim unfairly discriminates against Black applicants and other disadvantaged groups.
ALABAMA REPUBLICANS REJECT PROPOSAL TO CREATE 2ND MAJORITY-BLACK DISTRICT DESPITE SUPREME COURT RULING
The Supreme Court rejected the use of race as a factor in college admissions as a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. (Eric Lee for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The University of Minnesota said it maintains its commitment to enrolling a diverse student body “with students who bring diverse experiences, talents and perspectives to their community of scholars.” Academic factors such as high school coursework, grade point average, and ACT or SAT scores are given the “strongest consideration” for admissions, according to the university’s website.
The “contextual factors” considered are extracurricular activities, extraordinary personal achievements not reflected in the academic record, examples of community service, leadership, or significant responsibility in a family, community, or work and “evidence of overcoming social, economic, or physical barriers to educational success.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The school will also consider “an applicant’s contribution to the cultural, gender, age, economic, or geographic diversity of the student body,” a potential end-run around the Supreme Court ruling.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Brianna Herlihy, Bill Mears, Shannon Bream and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
