Walking the Diversity Rationale Talk

Since the year 2000, the United States Supreme Court has deliberated six cases that directly or indirectly concerned the future of affirmative action. In chronological order, these cases were Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Gratz v. Bollinger (2003), Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007) , Ricci v. DeStefano (2009), Fisher v. University of Texas (2013), and Schuette v. Coalition to Defend affirmative Action (2014). The question at the center of each of these cases was what role, if any, race should have in policymaking, including deciding university admissions, K–12 school assignments, and employment promotion criteria. Four of these cases—Grutter, Gratz, Fisher, and Schuette—specifically addressed the issue of affirmative action in university admissions. And while the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) ² remains edict, Grutter, Gratz, Fisher, and most recently Schuette have all sought to challenge affirmative action’s legal standing.