HISPANIC FEDERATION CONDEMNS SCOTUS’ DECISION STRIKING DOWN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN EDUCATION

For Immediate Release: June 29, 2023

Contact: media@hispanicfederation.org

NEW YORK–The United States Supreme Court today released its decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, holding that affirmative action policies in education are unconstitutional. Frankie Miranda, President and CEO of Hispanic Federation, issued the following statement in response:

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is an affront to our ideals as a nation and communities of color across the country who face numerous barriers to higher education. Affirmative action is a transformational policy that helped students of color achieve educational equity at a time where they were all too often shut out of higher education despite having determination, commitment, and the intelligence to achieve. In other words, it was a tool to account for the unequal opportunities that children of color face in primary and high schools that blocked many of these same students from future educational opportunities. The court’s decision to rollback affirmative action in education, despite 40 years of precedent, will only lead to more disparities and lost opportunities for future generations. In fact, schools such as Harvard University estimate that Latino students enrolled at their university will drop from 14 percent to 9 percent and Black student enrollment will decrease from 14 percent to 6 percent. We cannot accept this. Higher education changes lives, lifts students out of poverty, and advances whole communities. Hispanic Federation will not stop fighting until every young person has the opportunity to go to the college of their choice and achieve their goals and dreams.”