[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:03.14]this is the Education Report.
[00:06.43]Reaction appears mixed to a recent
[00:09.72]United States Supreme Court decision
[00:12.37]on affirmative action in university admissions.
[00:16.80]Affirmative action in admissions
[00:19.34]means that schools give special consideration
[00:22.63]to some racial or ethnic minorities.
[00:26.47]The goal is to create a more diverse campus,
[00:30.50]and to give more opportunities to groups
[00:33.45]that are under-represented in higher education.
[00:37.23]The Supreme Court ruled that race
[00:39.92]can be one of many factors considered
[00:43.60]when a student applies to a college or university.
[00:47.40]The court said education
[00:49.54]benefits from having diverse student populations.
[00:53.04]Some legal experts expressed surprise at the decision.
[00:58.41]They thought the justices would strike down
[01:01.41]a 2003 Supreme Court ruling.
[01:04.54]That ruling let universities use race in admissions decisions,
[01:10.98]but also said race needs to be just one factor among others.
[01:16.53]In the new decision,
[01:18.27]the justices did not deal with
[01:21.35]the question of affirmative action itself
[01:24.25]as many observers had expected.
[01:27.29]The court did not decide whether the idea
[01:30.84]violates the right of equal protection under the law,
[01:34.82]as guaranteed by the constitution.
[01:38.25]Instead, the justices sent the case
[01:42.30]back to a lower court for further consideration.
[01:46.82]A white woman who had been denied admission
[01:50.36]to the University of Texas at Austin brought the legal case.
[01:55.24]Abigail Fisher argued that it was wrong to reject her,
[01:59.78]when minority students with similar grades
[02:03.28]and test scores were accepted because of affirmative action.
[02:08.45]Wade Henderson is president of the Leadership Conference
[02:13.24]on Civil and Human Rights.
[02:15.43]He said the new decision reconfirms that it is an America's
[02:21.16]interest to increase opportunities for everyone.
[02:25.19]Justice Clarence Thomas,
[02:27.73]the only African-American on the Supreme Court,
[02:31.27]voted with the majority but wrote a separate opinion.
[02:35.81]His opinion strongly attacked affirmative action
[02:40.09]in college admissions as violating the constitution.
[02:44.73]He also said that the diversity by itself
[02:47.67]does not have any educational benefit.
[02:51.25]Ada Meloy is general counsel for the non-profit American Council on Education.
[02:58.68]"...that the colleges and universities should have the right
[03:04.81]to decide upon who will be admitted to the institution.
[03:09.79]And those that feel they need to consider race or ethnicity
[03:15.32]and make that decision should be able to do so,
[03:18.51]in line with the law that has been proclaimed
[03:23.24]by the Supreme Court since the 1970's."
[03:25.89]She said it was not clear how many of the 4,000 or so
[03:30.32]higher learning institutions in the United States
[03:33.95]use those criteria in deciding which student to accept.
[03:39.33]Ms. Meloy said many of the schools do not generally
[03:44.32]give special consideration to their applicants' race or ethnicity.
[03:49.95]And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English.
[03:54.49]I'm Karen Leggett.