Plenary Session 2: Race and Education After Students for Fair Admissions [ELPC 2024]

Last year’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard was a decisive turning point in the Supreme Court’s application of the Equal Protection Clause to the consideration of race in college admissions. Only months later, however, the Court dealt a blow to the hopes of opponents of race-based admissions policies in K–12 schools by declining to hear Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board, leaving for another day a decision whether nominally race-neutral policies imposed by educational institutions for the purpose of achieving a desired racial balance in student enrollment are in accordance with SFFA’s mandate. This panel will discuss the state of the law regarding race-conscious admissions in the wake of these two cases; debate the impact of SFFA on ongoing and prospective race discrimination cases; and highlight important cases to watch in this area of the law.

Featuring:

Dean Todd Clark, Dean, Delaware Law School
Dean andré douglas pond cummings, Dean, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
Richard D. Kahlenberg, Director of Housing Policy and the American Identity Project, Progressive Policy Institute
Cameron Norris, Partner, Consovoy McCarthy
Alison E. Somin, Legal Fellow, Center for the Separation of Powers, Pacific Legal Foundation
(Moderator) Hon. Steven J. Menashi, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.