University of California v Bakke
Allan Bakke applied to the UC Davis medical school in 1973 and 1974 with a proficient application. He was denied in both 1973 and 1974, and part of the class was reserved to meet a certain demographic of people. Bakke used this information and sued the university, claiming that the overrepresentation of minorities takes away the merit-based premise of higher education. He cited the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was combatted by UC Davis claiming that the admissions process encouraged diversity.
Breakdown Verdict.
The court ruled 5-4 in favor of Bakke, saying that race can be a classification for an application but cannot be part of quotas that need to be met for a class. This is because a set number puts aside merit and instead focuses more on artificial diversity. There was no majority opinion written, meaning that the majority all used different methodologies to concur to the same point. Cases such as Grutter v Bollinger and Fisher v University of Texas allowed for justices to provide singular reasonings on similar cases.
Result Going Forward.
This case contextualizes the conflict between promoting diversity and admitting students by achievement. Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard overturned this case and removed the consideration of race completely from college admissions, since it violates the same Equal Protection Clause. Problems that arose in this case are similar to today’s debate of reverse-racism, where diversity is prioritized to a point where minorities become the majority. Overall, California v Bakke challenged the extent of modern diversity into the Supreme Court landscape.
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