Grutter v. Bollinger
Grutter v. Bollinger is a pivotal Supreme Court case from 2003 that upheld the affirmative action policy of the University of Michigan, particularly its law school admissions process. The case arose when Barbara Grutter, a white applicant, claimed she was denied admission in favor of minority candidates with lower test scores, arguing that the policy discriminated against white applicants. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in a narrow five-to-four decision that the university's admissions policy was constitutional, as it considered race as one factor among many in a holistic review process, rather than using a strict quota system.
The ruling reinforced the precedent set in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), establishing that affirmative action programs must be individualized and tailored without rigid numerical limits. The Supreme Court emphasized that such policies contribute to diversity within educational institutions, a goal deemed valuable for enriching the academic environment. This decision has had lasting implications for how race and ethnicity can be factored into college admissions processes, influencing subsequent cases like Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin in 2013. Grutter v. Bollinger remains a significant milestone in the ongoing debate over affirmative action and its role in promoting equality within higher education.
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Grutter v. Bollinger
The Case: United States Supreme Court ruling in favor of the University of Michigan’s affirmative action policy
Date: Decided on June 23, 2003
In Grutter v. Bollinger, the US Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan’s affirmative action policy, stating that the policy was constitutional because it treated race as only one of many factors that determined whether a student was eligible for acceptance into the university.
Since its inception, the concept of affirmative action has been controversial. The term refers to a method of policy making in which college admissions or business hiring practices are specifically designed to help increase the number of participating minorities. While affirmative action policies are generally intended to foster cultural diversity, some believe that their implementation results in discrimination against white people.
In 1996, Barbara Grutter, a white woman, applied for admission to law school at the University of Michigan. Upon receiving a rejection notice, Grutter learned that there were minority applicants who had been selected over her even though they had lower admission scores. Grutter subsequently filed a lawsuit against the school. She won her initial case in US District Court in 2001. After that ruling was overturned by an appeals court, the case went to the US Supreme Court in 2003.
Grutter alleged that the school was discriminating against white applicants by placing an unjust emphasis on race in its admissions decisions. In a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan’s admittance policy was constitutional because its process was sufficiently individualized and tailored closely enough to each applicant to be legally satisfactory. The court stated that its opinion was based on the fact that the university’s selection process did not include a quota system and only regarded race as one of many factors involved in determining whether an applicant is adequately qualified for admittance.
Impact
In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court not only reaffirmed its landmark decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the first major case regarding collegiate admissions and affirmative action, but also further refined that decision. Through its ruling, the court clearly established that an affirmative action program is constitutional only if the program is sufficiently individualized, if it considers race only as one of many factors, and if it is specifically designed to maintain an adequate level of diversity within an institution. Most importantly, the ruling meant that the court’s decision in Grutter v. Bollinger upheld and supported the concept of affirmative action itself. In 2013 the Supreme Court's ruling on Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin further defined when and how universities may legally use an applicant's race or ethnicity in admission decisions.
Bibliography
Garces, Liliana M. "Social Science Research and the Courts: Informing Post–Grutter v. Bollinger Developments in Higher Education Cases." Educational Policy 27.4 (2013): 591–614. Education Research Complete. Web. 6 Feb. 2015.
Grutter v. Bollinger. 539 U.S. 306. Supreme Court of the United States. 2003. Supreme Court Collection. Legal Information Inst., Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.
“Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger (2003).” PBS. Educational Broadcasting Corporation, 2007. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.
Long, Mark C. "Is There a 'Workable' Race-Neutral Alternative to Affirmative Action in College Admissions?" Jour. of Policy Analysis & Management 34.1 (2015): 162–183. Education Research Complete. Web. 6 Feb. 2015.
Smolla, Rodney A. The Constitution Goes to College: Five Constitutional Ideas That Have Shaped the American University. New York: NYU P, 2011. Print.