On March 30, 2024, UMINN announced that they would no longer be giving preference to minorities for fellowship. This decision came after a lawsuit was filed by Adam Kissel who cited concerns with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights in September 2023. Kissel alleges that the fellowship discriminated applicants on the basis of sex and race, resulting in preferential treatment to woman and applicants of color. In their announcement, UMINN announced that they will be considering and choosing applicants instead "based on their commitment to enhancing diversity and inclusion." Kissel described the move to be a "win for civil rights."
UMINN decisions is not out of the norm, as the Supreme Court prohibited universities in June from considering race in admissions. Following the Supreme Court's decision, diversity in law students declined ~17%, with top law schools experiencing the sharpest decline of diverse students. Even so, the ban has not shown to deter people of color from applying to law schools as the current number of black and Hispanic applicants are up in comparison with last year.
Affirmative action and issues involving race are often considered hot-button topics with people having strong feelings on either side of the issue. Do any of you have strong opinions on whether sex and race should be taken in consideration?
I personally believe that it should never be taken into consideration, and it should not even be a question on applications. It shouldn't matter to schools. There should not be a quota for schools based on race and gender. Higher education applications should always be based on merit and I think they made a decision that is fair to everyone.
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