President Barack Obama’s administration urged the Supreme Court on Monday to continue to permit college universities to take race into account when assembling their student bodies, saying the government has a “vital interest” in drawing its leaders from a diverse pool of college graduates. The University of Texas, whose policy of considering race as one factor in deciding who will be admitted to the university in Austin, is supported by the Obama administration.
The case, which is underscored by more than 50 friend-of-the-court briefs filed by individuals and outside groups, will be one of the most important of the court’s coming term. The policy is challenged by a white student, Abigail Fisher, who said she was rejected by the university while less qualified minorities were admitted, violating her constitutional rights. Fisher’s attorneys argued that the top-10 approach already increased the university’s diversity and the race-conscious approach is needless. However, the university asserts that its number of African-American and Hispanic students is too low to represent a state that will soon have no majority race. Fisher graduated from Louisiana State University in the spring.
