JALSA Statement on SCOTUS Decision on Affirmative Access

Statement of Cindy Rowe, Executive Director, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA)
On Today’s Supreme Court Decision Dismantling Affirmative Access in Higher Education
June 29, 2023

Supporting access to education is one of Judaism's most profound core values. As such, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA) is deeply disappointed by today's Supreme Court decision that dismantles affirmative access in higher education in America.

Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against precedent, making it harder for our country to become the true multifaith, multiracial democracy that JALSA and our allies are striving to achieve. This is a giant step backwards for those of us who believe that our strength is based in our diversity.

As Justices Jackson, Sotomayor, and Kagan noted in their dissent: “Gulf-sized race-based gaps exist with respect to the health, wealth, and well-being of American citizens.” As such, there remains an urgent and ongoing need to build equity by ensuring access to higher education despite unequal access to housing, medical care, and more. Affirmative access has been a successful approach to equalizing the playing field.

JALSA denounces this harmful and shortsighted decision and encourages academic institutions to address the inevitable damage that will be done by this decision.

We note that the Court said that “nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” We hope that academic institutions seriously consider how they will continue to evaluate the impact of race on applicants and strive to continue to diversify their institutions within the parameters of the Court decision.