"We Write Today To...": Harvard’s Statement after Court Bans Reservation in Admissions

The US top court said that programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violated the Constitution's equal protection clause.

Harvard University said that diversity and difference are essential to academic excellence after the Supreme Court effectively banned universities from using race as a factor in admissions.

"We write today to reaffirm the fundamental principle that deep and transformative teaching, learning, and research depend upon a community comprising people of many backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences," the university said in a communication signed by leaders of the institution, including outgoing president Lawrence Bacow.

Harvard said that for almost a decade it has "vigorously defended" its admission policy, which two federal courts ruled complied with longstanding precedent. The nation's top court, voting along ideological lines, said that programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violated the Constitution's equal protection clause.

"In the weeks and months ahead, drawing on the talent and expertise of our Harvard community, we will determine how to preserve, consistent with the Court's new precedent, our essential values," according to the letter, which was also signed by incoming president Claudine Gay.

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