Biden Administration’s Push To Preserve Racial Diversity in College Admissions Could Invite Legal Trouble

Schools invoking proxies for applicants’ race could struggle against the high court’s assertion that ‘what cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly.’

William B. Plowman/Getty Images
Widener Library on the Harvard campus at Cambridge, Massachusetts. William B. Plowman/Getty Images

With the approach of the first college admissions cycle since the Supreme Court banned affirmative action, the White House, which made no secret of its displeasure with the ruling, is pressuring colleges and universities to find ways in spite of the high court to maintain racial diversity. Yet analysts say that higher education officials seeking to continue admissions-as-usual risk infringing upon the law.

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