Understand impact of legal landscape on DEI efforts

Abstract

It's been just over a year since the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College and University of North Carolina, 600 US 181 (2023). That June 29, 2023 decision effectively eliminated the ability for institutions of higher education to consider an individuals’ protected status as a factor in admissions decisions designed to advance diversity. The Supreme Court found that Harvard's and North Carolina's consideration of protected status in admissions couldn’t satisfy strict scrutiny. The programs therefore violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.