An Analysis of the Supreme Court Case: Fisher V. University of Texas

The Future of Admissions

An Analysis of the Supreme Court Case: Fisher v. University of Texas

Since the end of segregation, it has been a priority to create diversity in the field of education. School officials have attempted to meet this goal via affirmative action. Recently, there is much speculation as to whether affirmative action is needed any longer as the result of Fisher v. University of Texas.

Fisher v. University of Texas concerns the process for admissions that the University of Texas implemented in their efforts to create a diverse campus. At the time that Abigail Fisher -a Sugar Land, Texas resident- applied to the University of Texas, the university had been automatically admitting the top ten percent of all public high schools in Texas and thereafter individually evaluating each student. During the individual evaluation process, the university would enforce affirmative action by taking into consideration race when reviewing the students’ applications. This resulted in students having an advantage if they came from a minority background.

Abigail Fisher filed a civil lawsuit against the University of Texas after being denied admission, for which she believed, was a result of their use of affirmative action. Fisher claimed that, “…the individualized, discretionary admission policies violated her rights, and favored African-American and Hispanic applicants over whites and Asian-Americans.” It is her belief that, had it not been for the university’s consideration of race, she would have been granted admission. The university disclaimed this statement and confirmed that she would not have been accepted regardless whether race was a factor. Fisher claims that the use of the top ten percent acceptance plan is already creating diversity; therefore, race should not be a factor in the individual evaluation of students.

Although Fisher claims that the top ten-percentage plan is enough to create diversity I can personally disagree with this statement...