June 29, 2023 12:28pm EDT
Harvard reacts to Supreme Court affirmative action ruling: Diversity is 'essential to academic excellence'
Harvard's leadership highlighted another path to accounting for race in admissions, in wake of Supreme Court ruling
By Anders Hagstrom FOXBusiness
Harvard University responded to the Supreme Court's ruling that the university's admissions system was unconstitutional on Thursday, announcing in a statement that it will "certainly" comply with the decision.
Harvard's leadership declared in the statement that "diversity and difference are essential to academic excellence," and vowed to "preserve" the university's essential values. The statement also highlighted a potential route by which Harvard could continue to account for race in admissions in some form.
"The Court held that Harvard College’s admissions system does not comply with the principles of the equal protection clause embodied in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act," the statement read. "The Court also ruled that colleges and universities may consider in admissions decisions 'an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.' We will certainly comply with the Court’s decision."
"We write today to reaffirm the fundamental principle that deep and transformative teaching, learning, and research depend upon a community comprising people of many backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences," the statement continued. "That principle is as true and important today as it was yesterday. So too are the abiding values that have enabled us — and every great educational institution — to pursue the high calling of educating creative thinkers and bold leaders, of deepening human knowledge, and of promoting progress, justice and human flourishing."
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