RALEIGH, N.C. — UNC-Chapel Hill will defend how it considers race in its undergraduate admissions process as a trial about affirmative action begins in federal court Monday in Winston-Salem.
The bench trial stems from a 2014 lawsuit against UNC by Students for Fair Admissions, an anti-affirmative action group led by activist Edward Blum. The lawsuit claims the university unfairly uses race when considering applications, giving preference to Black and Hispanic students over white and Asian-American candidates.
The group is made up of thousands of rejected applicants, prospective students and parents who are concerned about racial preferences in college admissions.
Students for Fair Admissions argues "UNC's use of race is the opposite of individualized; UNC uses race mechanically to ensure the admission of the vast majority of underrepresented minorities," according to the plaintiffs' brief filed in January 2019.
UNC has defended its admissions practices, saying its policies "comply with the spirit and letter of the law," The News & Observer previously reported. The university uses race as one of many factors in evaluating applicants and does not use quotas or formulas, according to UNC's website about the case. Students can share their race or ethnicity in their application, but their "academic performance, test scores, class rank, essays, experiences, circumstances and potential to contribute to the educational environment" will all be considered.
UNC says eliminating the consideration of race and ethnicity in college admissions threatens the university's academic excellence and would make the school less diverse.
The case, which is expected to last about two weeks, is being heard by Judge Loretta C. Biggs in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Winston-Salem.
The ruling in this case and others could affect affirmative action and how universities around the country use race in college admissions.
In a similar case against Harvard University, a federal judge ruled that Harvard should continue to consider race in its admissions process. Last fall, Federal District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs said that "ensuring diversity at Harvard relies, in part, on race conscious admissions." She wrote that the elite private university's admissions program "passes constitutional muster."
The UNC case also resembles Fisher v. University of Texas, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment allows race to be considered in undergraduate admissions decisions. In that case, a white prospective student alleged that UT Austin unlawfully favored Black and Hispanic applicants over others.
At the trial in North Carolina, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law will argue that the court should uphold UNC's race-conscious admissions policy.
The national civil rights group is representing prospective and current students and alumni and will present witness testimony that shows UNC's process benefits students that come from underrepresented and marginalized communities. Some of the group's lawyers were also involved in the controversial lawsuit between the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the UNC System over the Silent Sam Confederate monument.
They argue that race is an integral part of a student's identity and application and "affirmative action programs ensure underrepresented students of color are not overlooked when applying to our nation's colleges and universities," according to spokesperson Ian Weiner.
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