Saint Louis University is vowing to continue implementing strategies that diversify the student body without employing race-based admissions practices that the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed last week.
“The inclusion of students with diverse backgrounds and diverse racial identities advances not only the academic mission but also the religious mission of Catholic institutions of higher learning,” University President Fred P. Pestello told students in a letter last week. “As a Catholic, Jesuit university, we have a distinctive, mission-driven commitment to promoting justice and the common good.”
In response to the decision, Attorney General Darren Bailey sent a letter to municipalities and universities warning them to immediately end race-based affirmative action policies to ensure compliance with the Constitution and federal law.
"He's ridiculous," said Kenneth Warren, SLU professor of political science.
Bailey said in his letter that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision resolves a previous contradiction.
“In recent years, the Supreme Court has created confusion by acknowledging that racial classifications are presumptively unconstitutional while simultaneously upholding so-called ‘affirmative action’ college admission programs that systemically disfavor applicants because of race," he stated. "These rulings make clear that disfavoring some applicants because of race is not only deeply unpopular; it is unconstitutional. As the Court put it today, ‘Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.’"
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 29 decision overturned a 1978 landmark ruling that allowed colleges and universities to take into consideration a student’s race as part of their admissions policy.
The underlying case, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFFA) v. Harvard and the University of North Carolina alleged discrimination against Asian applicants.
“Each year for the past three years, we have admitted first-year undergraduate classes that are the most diverse in SLU’s history – in terms of many factors, including race,” ” Pestello said in his June 29 letter. “We also continue to serve increasing numbers of Pell-eligible and first-generation students. We have achieved these outcomes using evidence-based strategies.”
SLU was among the 57 Catholic colleges and universities that submitted an Amicus Curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold diversity-based college admissions practices.
“We believe that the inclusion of students with diverse backgrounds and diverse racial identities advances not only the academic mission but also the religious mission of Catholic institutions of higher learning,” Pestello added.
College admissions diversity initiatives were always meant to be temporary, according to Warren.
“It violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment,” he said. “Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of schools, including Harvard University and SLU have done away with test scores, which is huge because that's the basis for these suits. It's difficult to argue successfully these lawsuits without test scores in hand.”