We are pleased by the Court’s decision today in the cases brought by Students for Fair Admissions. Affirmative action is wrong because racial discrimination is wrong. The best response to racial discrimination in the past was never to discriminate in the opposite direction. It is certainly not the best response now. 

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As Chief Justice Roberts said in the opinion of the Court: “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”

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We encourage Harvard—and all other institutions of higher education affected by these cases—to abide by the spirit and not merely the letter of the law. There have been reports that various schools are preparing to work around these rulings. The Court seems to anticipate as much when it clarifies that “universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.” To attempt to do so would not only expose the University to further litigation, but it would also be another rejection of Harvard’s commitment to maintaining the highest possible standards of academic excellence.

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No one should have to wonder if they were denied a spot at Harvard because of their race, and no one should be subject to the accusation that they would not have been admitted but for their race.

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The current system of affirmative action put many students into these positions, and if Harvard
finds a way to engage in affirmative action without violating the Court’s ruling, it will continue
to do so. Instead, Harvard should take this opportunity to embrace a meritocratic, color-blind
approach to composing its student body.​