U.S. Supreme Court Rules Affirmative Action Unconstitutional
"Minority Preference" Leads to Reverse Discrimination Against Asians and Whites
This Year’s Freshmen: Fewer Black and Hispanic Students, More Asian Students
This year, among American freshmen at Harvard University, the proportion of Black and Hispanic students has decreased, while the proportion of Asian students has increased. This is analyzed as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision ruling affirmative action-an admissions policy favoring underrepresented minorities-unconstitutional.
According to Yonhap News on October 22 (local time), citing the New York Times and Bloomberg, “Data released by Harvard University shows that the percentage of freshmen identifying as Black or African American dropped from 14% last year to 11.5% this year.” The proportion of Hispanic or Latino freshmen also fell from 16% to 11%. In contrast, the proportion of Asian American students increased from 37% to 41%. The percentage of White students was not disclosed.
At Princeton University, the proportion of Black freshmen also fell from 8.9% last year to 5% this year, reportedly the lowest since 1968. Meanwhile, the proportion of Asian students rose from 23.8% to 27.1%.
Affirmative action was introduced in 1961 as part of the Black civil rights movement. However, in 2014, a nonprofit organization filed a lawsuit against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, arguing that their admissions systems discriminated against White and Asian applicants, violating the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act, which prohibit discrimination based on race. In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action policies, intended to benefit Black, Hispanic, and Native American applicants, resulted in reverse discrimination against highly qualified White and Asian applicants, and declared them unconstitutional.
Harvard University, which was a defendant in the lawsuit, denied allegations of discriminating against Asian American applicants, but ultimately overhauled its admissions policies. The current freshman class reflects the outcome of these changes.
However, the data released by Harvard University on this day is based on self-reported information from freshmen, so it may not accurately represent the racial composition of the incoming class. The New York Times noted, “Many students do not report their race. This year, at Harvard, the percentage of students who self-reported their race was 8%, the same as last year.”
Meanwhile, this year’s freshman class at Harvard University consists of 1,675 students from all 50 U.S. states and 92 countries. The proportion of international students is 15%, a decrease of 1 percentage point from last year.
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