Illinois colleges commit to diversity despite challenge to affirmative action admissions

Considering an applicant's race to foster diversity in college admissions soon could be illegal.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments starting Monday on two landmark lawsuits that challenge affirmative action. Legal experts say the lawsuits could fundamentally reshape the college admissions process nationwide.

The lawsuits, Students for Fair Admissions Inc (SFFA) vs. Harvard College and SFFA vs. the University of North Carolina, allege that the university's race-conscious admissions process discriminates against Asian American and white applicants. Harvard and UNC deny the claims arguing that race is only one factor for admission and the process helps make campuses diverse.

The petitioners insist that the court overturn Grutter vs. Bollinger, the 2003 case that made it legal for colleges to consider race to foster diversity. It also asks the court to find that racial influence in admissions is prohibited by the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.

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University of Illinois College of Law dean Vikram Amar said an overturning is likely with the court's 6-3 conservative majority.

"The betting money is that there are five or six justices who will look at things differently and if not close the door entirely to race-based affirmative actions, at least issue a ruling that makes it harder and less common to be able to make use of race."

Leaders at several public and private universities in Illinois said they will strategize ways to continue cultivating diversity without breaking the law if the case is overruled.

“Regardless of the outcome, UIS will remain committed to serving students of all races, genders and ethnicities, '' said University of Illinois Springfield director of public relations Blake Wood in a statement. “UIS has an unwavering commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion on campus and in our admissions practices. We will continue to be a welcoming and inclusive learning environment for all students who wish to call UIS home.”

In 2020, the UIS student body was 62.6% white, 12.9% Black or African American, 8.95% Hispanic or Latino, and 4.41% Asian.

UIS junior Christian Nix said ending affirmative action would be disappointing.

“It'll be unfair because people of color already don't get the opportunities that other races get as it is," said Nix, who is African American. "I think it's just gonna be another one of those issues where we have to work twice as hard to get half as much.”

UIS junior Eric Morales Gonzalez said as a Mexican American student it's already rare to see other students like him on campus. He fears overturning the affirmative action process would lessen the number.

"If they overturn it my ability to connect with people who understand what I'm struggling through will significantly decrease. I’m sure there will be first-gen students around but maybe not as many like me and it’ll affect many students heavily in terms of mental health," Morales Gonzalez said.

At Bradley University where about 68% of the student body is white, Warren Anderson said the university is already building its DEI division so that it will withstand whatever decision the high court makes. The vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion said being race-conscious does not mean being race-exclusive.

“As you’re building a truly holistic and equitable environment, it's important to understand that it doesn't mean you’re excluding anyone or watering down your criteria,” Anderson said.  "It really just means you’re building an environment that respects that people come from different backgrounds and you want to make sure that whatever you put in place is welcoming for all students on board, but particularly for those students coming in with everyday trauma and factors that can’t be ignored.”

To ensure applicants aren’t excluded, Anderson said most universities use a "holistic review" process which involves looking at multiple factors -- academic, nonacademic, and contextual.

“It’s about looking at their high school GPA, curricular activities, social justice engagements and what kind of impact they could have on your institution's campus,” Anderson said. “It has to go beyond just race but we cannot ignore the historical patterns of discrimination and minimizing access for students of color and students from historically excluded populations.”

Race-conscious admissions practices such as affirmative action attempt to remedy inequities by encouraging colleges to take a closer look at some of the nontraditional factors that could make a student successful — factors often overlooked in traditional admissions criteria, supporters say.

"We're moving away from those standardized tests because we know they have biases embedded in them. With the holistic admissions model, if we’re able to look at the communities [students] come from, whether they are first generation, low income or have experienced a disability, but all of a sudden now we have to be blind to race, it's hard to separate those out," said Doris Houston, chief equity and inclusion officer at Illinois State University.

"It [an overturning] would be a setback for our students from minoritized communities where education really is an opportunity to build generational wealth and build careers. I would hope and expect that ISU will be collaborating with other universities to look at ways to continue supporting and recruiting minoritized students," Houston said.

Students of color make up about 23% of ISU's student body. Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Jana Albrecht said the school plans to continue making access a priority and outreach will be key.

"Is this going to be something where some students say 'well I don't know how the admissions process works so I'm not gonna apply at all because I fear I can't get in'? That could happen," she said. "We’re gonna do the best we can to educate them on what our holistic review process is and that we take a look at grades, what they’ve done in high school, how it's important to us if they couldn't participate in extracurricular activities because they had to work, we’ll take everything into consideration that we can. We’re all about access so we want all people to get in if they’re interested in ISU."

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois universities prepare for SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action