Numerous amicus briefs are being filed with the United States Supreme Court today in support of The University of Texas at Austin’s holistic admissions process, which looks at an applicant’s race and ethnicity among many other factors.
Groups and organizations filing briefs so far include the United States government; 17 U.S. senators; the family of Heman Sweatt, the first African American law student at UT; about 100 public and private universities; small businesses; educational associations; the National League of Cities; civil rights groups; the state of California; religious organizations; social scientists; student organizations; and others. Additional amicus briefs are expected throughout the afternoon. A full list is available online.
The groups are filing the briefs as part of Fisher v. The University of Texas. The university filed its brief in the case last week, and the Supreme Court will hear that case Oct. 10. Full texts of the briefs filed so far are available on the The University of Texas website.
“We’re delighted by this show of support. These amicus briefs demonstrate that this is a very important issue that will guide where America is going in the future,” said university president Bill Powers. “We need to have pathways for our students into leadership positions so we can have a robust economy, a robust culture and a robust democracy. These briefs also speak to the absence of the full educational benefits of diversity at UT in 2004 when we introduced our race-conscious, holistic review admissions policy.”
A video of President Powers discussing the anticipated briefs is also available for viewing.
