University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Wins in Admissions-Discrimination Suit – WSJ

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill didn t discriminate against white and Asian-American applicants in its undergraduate-admissions process, a federal judge ruled Monday, 11 months after the case went to trial.

The school was sued in federal court in North Carolina in 2014 by Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit group backed by conservative legal activist Ed Blum. That group was also behind an affirmative action lawsuit against the University of Texas at Austin that led to a Supreme Court decision backing the university, and a suit against Harvard University, in which both a district court and appellate court ruled in favor of Harvard.

Students for Fair Admissions argued that UNC gave too much weight to applicants race, favoring Black, Hispanic and Native American applicants. They also said the school didn t fully pursue race-neutral alternatives to diversify its student body.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs said in her ruling that the school continues to have much work to do in its effort to improve diversity and inclusion but that it does comply with Supreme Court precedent regarding the consideration of race in admissions. The school s use of race in the admissions process was narrowly tailored, she said, and it had made a good-faith effort to consider race-neutral alternatives like boosting financial aid, changing its recruiting approach and accepting more transfer students.

via www.wsj.com