Supreme Court scrutinizes university's use of race in

admissions
Attorney Bert Rein (L), speaks to the media while standing with plaintiff Abigail Noel Fisher (R),
after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in her caseon October 10, 2012 in Washington, DC.
The high court heard oral arguments on Fisher V. University of Texas at Austin and are tasked with
ruling on whether the university's consideration of race in admissions is constitutional. Mark
Wilson/Getty Images
Attorney Bert Rein (L), speaks to the media while standing with plaintiff Abigail Noel Fisher (R),
after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in her case on October 10, 2012 in Washington, DC.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
The Supreme Court today returned to the controversial issue of affirmative action, hearing
arguments over the University of Texas at Austin's consideration of race in its admissions program.
The fate of the university's program -- and perhaps the way schools nationwide talk about race --
could rest with moderate Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. The court's four conservatives --
as well as Kennedy -- seemed interested in finding a way to dial back the use of race in college
admissions without scuttling the goal of promoting diversity. Some of the most pointed and probing
questions came from Kennedy, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts.
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If the court decides to overrule the precedent it set in 2003, which allows for a "holistic" approach to
racial consideration in college admissions, its political ramifications would run deep. Dozens of high-
profile figures and organizations filed amicus briefs in this high-profile case, mostly in favor of
affirmative action. Business leaders and former military leaders argued to the Supreme Court that
tossing out race-based affirmative action would hurt the training of future military and business
leaders.
University of Texas at Austin's admissions program was called into question by Abigail Fisher, a 22-
year-old white woman who was rejected from the school in 2008. Fisher filed suit, and her lawyers
today argued that the university's consideration of race doesn't meet the standards of a "holistic"
approach.
"We're entitled to the equal protection under the laws, and that is what this case has been about
from the beginning," Bert Rein, Fisher's lawyer, told reporters after the hearing. While schools have
"some interests in diversity," Rein said it should not be "an overriding consideration" in admissions.
Race, he said, is "an odious and dangerous classification."
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