MIT joins in Supreme Court amicus brief supporting consideration of race in admissions
MIT and 12 peer institutions filed an amicus brief Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas. The court will hear arguments in the case on Dec. 9. The “friend of the court” brief filed by MIT and its peers supports the use of race as one of many factors in making undergraduate admission decisions. The case was brought by Abigail Fisher, a white applicant who sued in 2008 after being denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin. She claimed that the University of Texas’ consideration of race in admissions decisions was unconstitutional and in violation of federal civil rights statutes. MIT and peer institutions filed a similar amicus brief on Aug. 13, 2012, in anticipation of the court’s first hearing of Fisher v. University of Texas, during its 2012-13 term. In its later decision, the Supreme Court affirmed that there is a compelling state interest...