SFFA v. Harvard

Docket number: 20-1199 (Supreme Court)

Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit membership group of more than 20,000 students and parents who oppose racial classifications in higher education, sued Harvard, alleging illegal discrimination against Asian American applicants. Asian Americans are disadvantaged in the Harvard application process by receiving lower “personal ratings.” Harvard admittedly used this “holistic” admissions process for decades in the twentieth century to exclude Jewish applicants.

Harvard today admits Asian Americans at a lower rate than applicants of other races, including whites, though Asian Americans have higher test scores and extracurricular scores on average. An Asian American in the fourth-lowest decile of “academic index” (a combination of GPA and test scores) has less than a 1% chance of being admitted to Harvard, but an African American in that decile has a higher chance of admission (12.8%) than an Asian American in the top decile (12.7%).

SFFA’s suit was unsuccessful in the district court and on appeal in the First Circuit. It petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari, asking the Court to overturn Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 decision permitting higher-education institutions to use race in the admissions process if it is to enhance “diversity.”

Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute filed an amicus brief in favor of granting certiorari. Its brief noted that Grutter, though expressly limited to higher-education admissions, has had pernicious effects rationalizing racial discrimination in the name of “diversity” in fields well beyond higher-education admissions. Lower courts are citing Grutter to justify racial discrimination even in the selection of class counsel. SFFA cited HLLI’s amicus in its reply brief.

On January 24, 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari. On May 9, 2022, HLLI filed an amicus brief in support of SFFA on the merits, with Ilya Shapiro as a fellow amicus.

Case Documents