The lawsuits

Senior Luke Thompson is among many individuals who support the affirmative action process. “People who are against affirmative action are trying to bring back social constructions from a time long past. While you could make a logical argument that affirmative action disadvantages certain races, it is vital to making sure that everyone is equally represented and has an equal opportunity,” he said. 

Anti-affirmative action movements trace years back to Ed Blum, a white conservative activist who has dedicated numerous efforts to end the affirmative action process. Since 1996, Blum has brought eight cases to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2005, Blum founded the Project on Fair Representation, an organization with a mission to “support litigation that challenges racial and ethnic classifications and preferences in state and federal courts.” Recruiting white student Abigail N. Fisher in his legal battle, Blum led a pair of lawsuits against the University of Texas at Austin for unlawfully denying her admission because of the school’s race-conscious admissions program. 

After spending years in federal courts, the case was ultimately ruled against in a 4-3 verdict by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016. The court cited precedents to uphold these policies from landmark cases such as Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, which examined the University of Michigan’s admissions policies. 

In Nov. 2014, Blum filed federal lawsuits against Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill, alleging race-based discrimination in the schools’ admissions processes. This time, these attempts were made behind the front of a different unnamed plaintiff: a new nonprofit group founded by Blum, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA).  

Now, this anti-affirmative action group has evolved into representing over 20,000 students and parents from across the country. The organization boasts their mission to “support and participate in litigation that will restore the original principles of our nation’s civil rights movement,” encouraging individuals to submit their experiences being wronged by the college admissions process. 

Since that 2014 case ignited a burning flame to end affirmative action, this group has persistently continued to file lawsuits related to affirmative action—the same suits that have suddenly resurfaced in recent news. 

On Oct. 31, the Supreme Court heard two oral arguments brought to them by SFFA: Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina (UNC), both alleging discrimination against AAPI and white applicants.

Joined by the newest conservative members of the court, all three dissenters in the Fisher case — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — are expected to rule in favor of Blum and strike down years of precedent. 

An added layer to the current Supreme Court being the most conservative court in recent history, SFFA is also funded by large conservative trusts— including DonorsTrust, the Searle Freedom Trust, the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the 85 Fund. These donors are linked to the Federalist Society, a network of libertarian and conservative lawyers that six of the nine sitting SCOTUS justices are members of. 

“As it stands, people don’t have equal opportunity, and affirmative action evens out this imbalance. If the court were to rule in favor of Blum, that would only send our country backwards,” Thompson continued. 

As Blum prepares to face the Supreme Court, it seems like the stars have aligned for him to achieve his life’s mission: tearing down race-conscious admissions at every institution.