ADMISSIONS ON TRIAL The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, June 24, 2003 -13 2. For that matter, as the Court suggests, narrow tailoring challenges against the two policies could well have different out- comes. Ante, at 18. The record on the deci- sionm swing process for transfer applicants is understandably thin, given that petition- e. never raised a narrow tailoring chal- ,lenge against it. Most importantly, however, the transfer policy does not use a points- based "selection index" to evaluate transfer applicants, but rather considers race as one of many factors in making the general determination whether the applicant would make a " 'contribution to a diverse student body.' " Ante, at 17 (quoting 2 App. in No. 01-1333 etc. (CA6), p. 531 (capitalization omitted)). This limited glimpse into the transfer policy at least permits the infer- ence that the University engages in a "holistic review" of transfer applications consistent with the program upheld today in Grutter v. Bollinger, post, at 25. 3. The Court surmises that the committee does not contribute meaningfully to the University's individualized review of appli- cations. Ante, at 25-26. The Court should not take it upon itself to apply a newly-for- mulated legal standard to an undeveloped record. Given the District Court's statement that the committee may examine "any num- ber of applicants, including applicants other than under-represented minority applicants," 122 F. Supp. 2d 811, 830 (ED Mich. 2000), it is quite possible that further factual development would reveal the com- mittee to be a "source of individualized consideration" sufficient to satisfy the Court's rule, ante, at 4 (O'CONNOR, J., concurring). Determination of that issue in the first instance is a job for the District Court, not for this Court on a record that is admittedly lacking. 4. Of course it might be pointless in the State of Michigan, where minorities are a much smaller fraction of the population than in California, Florida, or Texas. Brief for Resoondents Bollinger et al. 48-49. inequality remain painfully evident in our communities and schools. In the wake "of a system of racial caste only recently ended," id., at 273 (GINS- BURG, J., dissenting), large disparities endure. Unemployment,' poverty,' and access to health care vary disproportion- ately by race. Neighborhoods and schools remain racially divided. African-American and Hispanic children are all too often edu- cated in poverty-stricken and underper- forming institutions.' Adult African-Americans and Hispanics general- ly earn less than whites with equivalent levels of education. Equally credentialed job applicants receive different receptions depending on their race.' Irrational preju- dice is still encountered in real estate mar- kets' and consumer transactions.' "Bias both conscious and unconscious, reflecting traditional and unexamined habits of thought, keeps up barriers that must come down if equal opportunity and nondiscrimi- nation are ever genuinely to become this country's law and practice." Id., at 274 (GINSBURG, J., dissenting); see generally Krieger, Civil Rights Perestroika: Inter- group Relations After Affirmative Action, 86 Calif. L. Rev. 1251, 1276-1291 (1998). The Constitution instructs all who act for the government that they may not "deny to any person . . . the equal protection of the laws." Amdt. 14, §1. In implementing this equality instruction, as I see it, government decision-makers may properly distinguish between policies of exclusion and inclu- sion. See Wygant v. Jackson Bd. of Ed., 476 U. S. 267, 316 (1986) (STEVENS, J., dis- senting). Actions designed to burden groups long denied full citizenship stature are not sensibly ranked with measures taken to hasten the day when entrenched discrimination and its after effects have been extirpated. See Carter, When Victims Happen To Be Black, 97 Yale L. J. 420, 433-434 (1988) ("[T]o say that two cen- turies of struggle for the most basic of civil rights have been mostly about freedom from racial categorization rather than free- dom from racial oppressio[n] is to trivialize the lives and deaths of those who have suf- fered under racism. To pretend . . . that the issue presented in [Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, 438 U. S. 265 (1978)] was the same as the issue in [Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U. S. 483 (1954)] is to pre- tend that history never happened and that the present doesn't exist."). Our jurisprudence ranks race a "suspect" category, "not because [race] is inevitably an impermissible classification, but because it is one which usually, to our national shame, has been drawn for the purpose of maintaining racial inequality." Norwalk Core v. Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, 395 F. 2d 920, 931-932 (CA2 1968) (footnote omitted). But where race is considered "for the purpose of achieving equality," id., at 932, no automatic pro- scription is in order. For, as insightfully explained, "[t]he Constitution is both color blind and color conscious. To avoid conflict with the equal protection clause, a classifi- cation that denies a benefit, causes harm, or imposesa burden must not be based on race. In that sense, the Constitution is color blind. But the Constitution is color con- scious to prevent discrimination being per- petuated and to undo the effects of past discrimination." United States v. Jefferson County Bd. of Ed., 372 F. 2d 836, 876 (CA5 1966) (Wisdom, J.); see Wechsler, The Nationalization Of Civil Liberties And Civil Rights, Supp. to 12 Tex. Q. 10, 23 (1968) (Brown may be seen as disallowing racial classifications that "impl[y] an invidious assessment" while allowing such classifications when "not invidious in implication" but advanced to "correct inequalities"). Contemporary human rights documents draw just this line; they distinguish between policies of oppression and measures designed to accelerate de facto equality. See Grutter, post, at 1 (GINSBURG, J., concurring) (citing the United Nations-initiated Conventions on the Elimi- nation of All Formi of Racial Discrimina- tion and on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women). The mere assertion of a laudable govern- mental purpose, of course, should not immunize a race-conscious measure from careful judicial inspection. See Jefferson County, 372 F. 2d, at 876 ("The criterion is the relevancy of color to a legitimate gov- ernmental purpose."). Close review is needed "to ferret out classifications in real- ity malign, but masquerading as benign," Adarand, 515 U. S., at 275 (GINSBURG, J., dissenting), and to "ensure that prefer- ences are not so large as to trammel unduly upon the opportunities of others or inter- fere too harshly with legitimate expecta- tions of persons in once-preferred groups," id., at 276. II Examining in this light the admissions policy employed by the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (College), and for the reasons well stated by JUSTICE SOUTER, I see no constitutional infirmity. See ante, at 3-8 (dissenting opinion). Like other top-rank- ing institutions, the College has many more applicants for admission than it can accom- modate in an entering class. App. to Pet. for Cert. 108a. Every applicant admitted under the current plan, petitioners do not here dispute, is qualified to attend the Col- lege. Id., at II la. The racial and ethnic groups to which the College accords spe- cial consideration (African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native-Americans) histori- cally have been relegated to inferior status by law and social practice; their members continue to experience class-based discrim- ination to this day, see supra, at 1-4. There is no suggestion that the College adopted its current policy in order to limit or decrease enrollment by any particular racial or ethnic group, and no seats are reserved on the basis of race. See Brief for Respondents 10; Tr. of Oral Arg. 41-42 (in the range between 75 and 100 points, the review committee may look at applications individually and ignore the points). Nor has there been any demonstration that the Col- lege's program unduly constricts admis- sions opportunities for students who do not receive special consideration based on race. Cf. Liu, The Causation Fallacy: Bakke and the Basic Arithmetic of Selective Admis- sions, 100 Mich. L. Rev. 1045, 1049 (2002) ("In any admissions process where appli- cants greatly outnumber admittees, and where white applicants greatly outnumber minority applicants, substantial preferences for minority applicants will not significant- ly diminish the odds of admission facing white applicants.").'I The stain of generations of racial oppres- sion is still visible in our society, see Krieger, 86 Calif. L. Rev., at 1253, and the determination to hasten its removal remains vital. One can reasonably anticipate, there- fore, that colleges and universities will seek to maintain their minority enroll- ment-and the networks and opportunities thereby opened to minority graduates- whether or not they can do so in full candor through adoption of affirmative action plans of the kind here at issue. Without recourse to such plans, institutions of high- er education may resort to camouflage. For example, schools may encourage applicants to write of their cultural traditions in the essays they submit, or to indicate whether English is their second language. Seeking to improve their chances for admission, applicants may highlight the minority group associations to which they belong, or the Hispanic surnames of their mothers or grandparents. In turn, teachers' recommen- dations may emphasize who a student is as much as what he or she has accomplished. See, e.g., Steinberg, Using Synonyms for Race, College Strives for Diversity, N. Y. Times, Dec. 8, 2002, section 1, p. 1, col. 3 (describing admissions process at Rice University); cf. Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 14-15 (suggesting institu- tions could consider, inter alia, "a history of overcoming disadvantage," "reputation and location of high school," and "individ- ual outlook as reflected by essays"). If hon- esty is the best policy, surely Michigan's accurately described, fully disclosed Col- lege affirmative action program is prefer- able to achieving similar numbers through winks, nods, and disguises." *** For the reasons stated, I would affirm the judgment of the District Court. ment on L (Nov. http://gsb.u Mincy, The Their Rese Clear and C ment of I 165-186 (M 8. See, e.g 1. See, e.g., U. S. Dept. of Commerce, tion in Me Bureau of Census, Statistical Abstract of National Re the United States: 2002, p. 368 (2002) pp. i, (Table 562) (hereinafter Statistical http://www. Abstract) (unemployment rate among hase Repo whites was 3.7% in 1999, 3.5% in 2000, "two indivi and 4.2% in 2001; during those years, the other white unemployment rate among African-Amen- homeseeker cans was 8.0%, 7.6%, and 8.7%, respec- agents to in tively; among Hispanics, 6.4%, 5.7%, and advertised 6.6%). "discriminal 2. See, e.g., U. S. Dept of Commerce, and sales m Bureau of Census, Poverty in the United areas nation States: 2000, p. 291 (2001) (Table A) (In more, Mortl 2000, 7.5% of non-Hispanic whites, 22.1% Review of of African-Americans, 10.8% of Asian- (existing r Americans, and 21.2% of Hispanics were minority ho living in poverty); S. Staveteig & A. Wig- "face discri ton, Racial and Ethnic Disparities: Key ing instituti Findings from the National Survey of 9. See, e., America's Families 1 (Urban Institute Discrimina Report B-5, 2000) ("Blacks, Hispanics, and Estima and Native Americans. . . each have pover- Rev. 109, 14 ty rates almost twice as high as Asians and 38 testers n almost three times as high as whites."). than 400 a 3. See, e.g., U. S. Dept. of Commerce, finding "th Bureau of Census, Health Insurance Cover- lower price age: 2000, p. 391 (2001) (Table A) (In tester types" 2000, 9.7% of non-Hispanic whites were 10. The U without health insurance, as compared to centage pla 18.5% of African-Americans, 18.0% of and Texas as Asian-Americans, and 32.0% of His-pan- alternativ[e] ics.); Waidmann & Rajan, Race and Ethnic to enroll m Disparities in Health Care Access and Uti- students. Br lization: An Examination of State Varia- Curiae 14; s tion, 57 Med. Care Res. and Rev. 55, 56 Beyond Pert (2000) ("On average, Latinos and African Equal Opp Americans have both worse health and (Nov. 2002 worse access to effective health care than percent2/pe do non-Hispanic whites ...."). guarantee ad 4. See, e.g., U. S. Dept. of Commerce, a fixed perc Bureau of Census, Racial and Ethnic Resi- high school dential Segregation in the United States: or 20% plai 1980-2000 (2002) (documenting residen- disingenuo tial segregation); E. Frankenberg, C. Lee, were adopte & G. Orfield, A Multiracial Society with increasing r Segregated Schools: Are We Losing the cans and H Dream? 4 (Jan. 2003), http://www.civil- education s rightsproject.harvard.edu/ 44; seeC.H research/reseg03/AreWeLosingtheDream.p in College df (all Internet materials as visited June 2, Analysis o 2003, and available in Clerk of Court's case 14-19 (200 file), ("[W]hites are the most segregated ject.harvar group in the nation's public schools; they tion/tri statt attend schools, on average, where eighty for their eff percent of the student body is white."); id., segregation at 28 ("[A]lmost three-fourths of black and They can en Latino students attend schools that are pre- ment in uni dominantly minority .... More than one in minority hi six black children attend a school that is enough to g 99-100% minority .... One in nine Latino most of the students attend virtually all minority are minorit schools."). plans link cc 5. See, e.g., Ryan,Schools, Race, and terion-high Money, 109 Yale L. J. 249, 273- 274 (1999) perverse inc ("Urban public schools are attended prima- to keep the rily by African-American and Hispanic stu- segregated s dents"; students who attend such schools from taking are disproportionately poor, score poorly lower their on standardized tests, and are far more go, What S likely to drop out than students who attend 'X-Percent nonurban schools.). Education, J 6. See, e.g., Statistical Abstract 140 if percenta (Table 211). numbers of 7. See, e.g., Holzer, Career Advancement graduate lev Prospects and Strategies for Low-Wage in graduate Minority Workers, in Low-Wage Workers 11. Contr in the New Economy 228 (R. Kazis & M. do not sugg Miller eds. 2001) ("[I]n studies that have so that it cc sent matched pairs of minority and white universities. applicants with apparently equal creden- the Constitu tials to apply for jobs, whites routinely get more interviews and job offers than either black or His- panic applicants."); M. Bertrand & S. Mul- *, lainathan, Are Emily and Brendan More Employ- able than Lakisha and Jamal?: A Field Experi- E TAL. ell's diversity rationale is binding precedent. The Court finds it unnecessary to decide this issuen because the Court endors- es Justice Powell's view r abor Market Discrimination 18, 2002), chicago.edu/pdf/bertrand.pdf; Urban Institute Audit Studies: arch and Policy Context, in onvincing Evidence: Measure- Discrimination in America . Fix & R. Struyk eds. 1993). g., M. Turner et a., Discrimin- tropolitan Housing Markets: suts from Phase I HDS 2000, iii (Nov. 2002, huduser.org/Publications/pdf/P rt.pdf (paired testing in whidh duals-one minority and the -pose as otherwise identical s, and visit real estate or rental quire about the availability of housing units" revealed that tion still persists in both rental narkets of large metropolitan twide"); M. Turner & F. Skid- gage Lending Discrimination: A Existing Evidence 2 (1999) esearch evidence shows that mebuyers in the United States mination from mortgage lend- os."). g., Ayres, Further Evidence of tion in New Car Negotiations tes of its Cause, 94 Mich. L. 09-110 (1995) (study in whicil egotiated the purchase of more utomobiles confirmed earlier at dealers systematically offer s to white males than to other ). nited States points to the "per- is" used in California, Florida, one example of a "race-neutral " that would permit the College eaningful numbers of minority ief for United States as Amicio ee Commission on Civil Rights, entage Plans: The Challenge of 'rtunity in Higher Education . ), http://www.usccr.gov/pub/ rcent2.pdf (percentage plai mission to state universities for entage of the top students from s in the State). Calling such 1 ns "race-neutral" seems to me us, for they "unquestionably d with the specific purpose of epresentation of African-Ameri- ispanics in the public higher ystem." Brief for Respondents orn & S. Flores, Percent Plats Admissions: A Comparative f Three States' Experiences 3), http://www.civilrightspro- d.edu/research/affirmativeae .pdf. Percentage plans depend ectiveness on continued racia at the secondary school level sure significant minority enroll versities only if the majority gh school population is large uarantee that, in many schools, students in the top 10 or 20% ies. Moreover, becausesucs ollege admission to a single cril school class rank-they create entives. They encourage parents ir childreh in low-performing chools, and discourage student challenging classes that might grade point averages. See Sein' tates Aren't Saying About the Solution,' Chronicle of Higher une 2, 2000, p. A31. And even e plans could boost the sheer minority enrollees at the undef- el, they do not touch enrollment and professional schools. ary to the Court's contentionj est "changing the Constitutioa onforms to the conduct of the "Ante, at 27, n. 22. In my view, ition, properly interpreted, per- mits government officials t respond openly to the contin- uing importance of race. See supra, at 4-5. Among consti- tutionally permissible optioe, those that candidly disclose their consideration of race seem to me preferable to those that conceal it. : "presumed" absent "a show-.. ing to the contrary." Id., at 318- 319. Enrolling a "criti- cal mass" of minority stu- dents simply to assure some A specified percentage of a par, JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG, wIth whom JUSTICE DAVID SOUTER Joins, dissenting. * -*JUSTICE BREYER joins Part I of this opinion. Educational institutions, the Court acknowledges, are not barred from any and all consideration of race when making admissions decisions. Ante, at 20; see Grutter v. Bollinger, post, at 13-21. But the Court once again maintains that the same standard of review controls judicial inspec- tion of all official race classifications. Ante, at 21 (quoting Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peia, 515 U. S. 200, 224 (1995); Richmond v. J A. Croson Co., 488 U. S. 469, 494 (1989) (plurality opinion)). This insistence on "consistency," Adarand, 515 U. S., at 224, would be fitting were our Nation free of the vestiges of rank discrimina- tion long reinforced by law, see id., at 274-276, and n. 8 (GINSBURG, J., dissenting). But we are not far distant 4# from an overtly discriminato- ry past, and the effects of centuries of law-sanctioned Syllabus The University of Michigan Law School (Law School), one of the Nation's top law schools, follows an official admissions policy that seeks to achieve student body diver- sity through compliance with Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, 438 U. S. 265. Focusing on students' academic ability cou- pled with a flexible assessment of their tal- ents, experiences, and potential, the policy requires admissions officials to evaluate each applicant based on all the information available in the file, including a personal statement, letters of recommendation, an essay describing how the applicant will contribute to Law School life and diversity, and the 'applicant's undergraduate grade point average (GPA) and Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) score. Additional- ly, officials must look beyond grades and scores to so-called "soft variables," such as recommenders' enthusiasm, the quality of the undergraduate institution and the appli- cant's essay, and the areas and dif-ficulty of undergraduate course selection. The policy does not define diversity solely in terms of racial and ethnic status and does not restrict the types of diversity contributions eligible for "substantial weight," but it does reaffirm the Law School's commitment to diversity with special reference to the inclusion of African-American, Hispanic, and Native-American students, who other- wise might not be represented in the stu- dent body in meaningful numbers. By enrolling a "critical mass" of underrepre- sented minority students, the policy seeks to ensure their ability to contribute to the Law School's character and to the legal profession. When the Law School denied admission to petitioner Grutter, a white w ,, , : ':, x GRUTTER v. BOLLINGER. Michigan resident with a 3.8 GPA and 161 LSAT score, she filed this suit, alleging that respondents had discriminated against her on the basis of race in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and 42 U. S. C. §1981; that she was rejected because the Law School uses race as a "predominant" factor, giving applicants belonging to certain minority groups a significantly greater chance of admission than students with similar cre- dentials from disfavored racial groups; and that respondents had no compelling interest to justify that use of race. The District Court found the Law School's use of race as an admissions factor unlawful. The Sixth Circuit reversed, holding that Justice Pow- ell's opinion in Bakke was binding prece- dent establishing diversity as a compelling state interest, and that the Law School's use of race was narrowly tailored because race was merely a "potential 'plus' factor" and because the Law School's program was vir- tually identical to the Harvard admissions program described approvingly by Justice Powell and appended to his Bakke opinion. Held: The Law School's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educa- tional benefits that flow from a diverse stu- dent body is not prohibited by the Equal Protection Clause, Title VI, or §1981. Pp. 9-32. (a) In the landmark Bakke case, this Court reviewed a medical school's racial set-aside program that reserved 16 out of 100 seats for members of certain minority groups. The decision produced six separate opinions, none of which commanded a majority. Four Justices would have upheld the program on the ground that the govern- ment can use race to remedy disadvantages cast on minorities by past racial prejudice. 438 U. S., at 325. Four other Justices would have struck the program down on statutory grounds. Id., at 408. Justice Powell, announcing the Court's judgment, provided a fifth vote not only for invalidating the program, but also for reversing the state court's injunction against any use of race whatsoever. In a part of his opinion that was joined by no other Justice, Justice Powell expressed his view that attaining a diverse student body was the only interest asserted by the university that survived scrutiny. Id., at 311. Grounding his analysis in the academic freedom that "long has been viewed as a special concern of the First Amendment," id., at 312, 314, Justice Powell emphasized that the "'nation's future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure' to the ideas and mores of students as diverse as this Nation." Id., at 313. However, he also em- phasized that "[i]t is not an interest in sim- ple ethnic diversity, in which a specified percentage of the student body is in effect guaranteed to be members of selected eth- nic groups," that can justify using race. Id., at 315. Rather, "[t]he diversity that furthers a compelling state interest encompasses a far broader array of qualifications and characteristics of which racial or ethnic ori- gin is but a single though important ele- ment." Ibid. Since Bakke, Justice Powell's opinion has been the touchstone for consti- tutional analysis of race-conscious admis- sions policies. Public and private universities across the Nation have mod- eled their own admissions programs on Jus- tice Powell's views. Courts, however, have struggled to discern whether Justice Pow- that student body diversity is a compelling state interest in the context of university admissions. Pp. 9-13. (b) All government racial classifications must be analyzed by a reviewing court under strict scrutiny. Adarand Construc- tors, Inc. v. Peta, 515 U. S. 200, 227. But not all such uses are invalidated by strict scrutiny. Race-based action necessary to further a compelling governmental interest does not violate the Equal Protection Clause so long as it is narrowly tailored to further that interest. E.g., Shaw v. Hunt, 517 U. S. 899, 908. Context matters when reviewing such action. See Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U. S. 339, 343-344. Not every decision influenced by race is equally objectionable, and strict scrutiny is designed to provide a framework for care- fully examining the importance and the sin- cerity of the government's reasons for using race in a particular context. 13-15. (c) The Court endorses Justice Powell's view that student body diversity is a com- pelling state interest that can justify using race in university admissions. The Court defers to the Law School's educational judgment that diversity is essential to its educational mission. The Court's scrutiny of that interest is no less strict for taking into account complex educational judg- ments in an area that lies primarily within the university's expertise. See, e.g., Bakke, 438 U. S., at 319, n. 53 (opinion of Powell, J.). Attaining a diverse student body is at the heart of the Law School's proper insti- tutional mission, and its "good faith" is ticular group merely because; of its race or ethnic origin would be patent- ly unconstitutional. E.g., id., at 307. But the Law School defines its critical mass concept by reference to the substantial, important, and laudable educational bene-.; fits that diversity is designed to produce, including cross-racial understanding and the breaking down of racial stereotypes. The Law School's claim is further bolstered by numerous expert studies and reports showing that such diversity promotes learn- ing outcomes and better prepares studentsf for an increasingly diverse workforce, for : society, and for the legal profession. Majots American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today's increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse peope, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints. High-rankt ing retired officers and civilian military leaders assert that a highly qualified, racially diverse officer corps is essential to national security. Moreover, because uni- versities, and in particular, law schools, represent the training ground for a large number of the Nation's leaders, Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U. S. 629, 634, the path to leadership must be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity. Thus, the Law School has a comoe pelling interest in attaining a diverse stu- dent body. 15-21. (d) The Law School's admissions pro- gram bears the hallmarks ofa narrowly tai- lored plan. To be narrowly tailored, a race-conscious ad-missions program cannot