US Supreme Court strikes down university race-conscious admissions policies

Published

2 years ago

June 29, 2023

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WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down race-conscious student admissions programmes currently used at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC).

It is a sharp setback to affirmative action policies often used to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and other under-represented minority groups on campuses.

The justices ruled in favour of a group called Students for Fair Admissions, founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, in its appeal of lower court rulings upholding programmes used at the two prestigious schools to foster a diverse student population.

The decision, powered by the courts conservative justices with the liberal justices in dissent, was 6-3 against the University of North Carolina and 6-2 against Harvard. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson did not participate in the Harvard case.

The affirmative action cases represented the latest major rulings powered by the Supreme Courts conservative majority.

The court in June 2022 overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalised abortion nationwide and widened gun rights in a pair of landmark rulings.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said, Harvard and UNC admissions programmes cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause, referring to the US Constitutions promise of equal protection under the law.

At the same time, Justice Roberts said, as all parties agree, nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicants discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.

Many institutions of higher education, corporations and military leaders have long backed affirmative action on campuses.

The move had been not simply to remedy racial inequity and exclusion in American life, but to ensure a talent pool that can bring a range of perspectives to the workplace and US armed forces ranks.

According to Harvard, around 40 per cent of US colleges and universities consider race in some fashion.

Harvard and UNC have said they use race as only one factor in a host of individualised evaluations for admission without quotas permissible under previous Supreme Court precedents.

They said curbing its consideration would cause a significant drop in enrolment of students from under-represented groups.

Critics, who have tried to topple these policies for decades, argue these policies are themselves discriminatory.

Many US conservatives and Republican elected officials have argued that giving advantages to one race is unconstitutional, regardless of the motivation or circumstances. More On This Topic Need a university degree to get a good job? Not for much longer How many uni places are there for S'poreans? Is there a quota for poly grads? Some have advanced the argument that remedial preferences are no longer needed because the US has moved beyond racist policies of the past such as segregation and is becoming increasingly diverse.

The dispute presented the Supreme Courts conservative majority an opportunity to overturn its prior rulings allowing race-conscious admissions policies.

Mr Blums group in lawsuits filed in 2014 accused UNC of discriminating against white and Asian-American applicants, and Harvard of bias against Asian-American applicants.

Students for Fair Admissions alleged that the adoption by UNC, a public university, of an admissions policy that is not race-neutral, violates the guarantee to equal protection of the law under the US Constitutions 14th Amendment.

The group contended Harvard, a private university, violated Title VI of a landmark federal law called the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on race, colour or national origin under any programme or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Lower courts rejected the groups claims.

That decision prompted appeals to the US Supreme Court, asking the justices to overturn a key precedent holding that colleges could consider race as one factor in the admissions process because of the compelling interest of creating a diverse student body.

Affirmative action has withstood Supreme Court scrutiny for decades, most recently in a 2016 ruling involving a white student, backed by Mr Blum, who sued the University of Texas after being rejected for admission.

The Supreme Court has shifted rightwards since 2016 and now includes three justices who dissented in the University of Texas case and three new appointees by former Republican president Donald Trump. REUTERS More On This Topic NUS and NTU among top 5 Asian universities in Times rankings NUS enters top 10 in global university ranking for the first time

UK

England star Jess Carter targeted by racist abuse during Euros

Published

1 hour ago

July 20, 2025

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England star Jess Carter targeted by racist abuse during Euros

England star Jess Carter says she has been the victim of racist abuse online during the UEFA Women’s Euros in Switzerland.

The Lionesses defender, who has 49 England caps, said she will be “taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with”.

In an Instagram post, the 27-year-old player said: “From the start of the tournament, I have experienced a lot of racial abuse. Whilst I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result, I don’t agree or think it’s ok to target someone’s appearance or race.”

Carter said she was stepping back from social media to “protect myself in a bid to keep my focus on helping the team anyway I can”.

She added: “Hopefully speaking out will make the people writing this abuse think twice so that others won’t have to deal with it.”

Carter also said that England have made some “historic changes with the Lionesses squad” that she was “so proud” of, and she hopes that by speaking out about racial abuse “it will make another positive change for all”.

‘Abhorrent abuse’

The Football Association leadership has condemned the “abhorrent abuse” against Carter and has contacted UK police about it.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said in a statement: “Our priority is Jess and giving her all the support she needs. We strongly condemn those responsible for this disgusting racism.

“As soon as we were made aware of the racist abuse Jess received, we immediately contacted UK police. They are in touch with the relevant social media platform, and we are working with police to ensure those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice.”

The Lionesses said in a statement: “We stand with Jess and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism.

“No one should have to endure such vile abuse, be that in football or any walk of life.”

They added: “Those behind this online poison must be held accountable.”

Anger and sadness

England teammate Lucy Bronze said there was “anger” and “sadness” among the squad following the abuse.

Bronze said: “I think we all know that any player of colour that’s played for England has probably gone through racist abuse. That’s a sad fact.”

She told Sky News’ sports correspondent Rob Harris that social media platforms need to be held more accountable.

Bronze added: “People need to be held accountable for their actions, whether it’s in-person or online. The abuse is not okay. Racism is not okay.”

The prime minister said on X that there was “no place for racism in football or anywhere in society”.

Sir Keir Starmer added: “I stand with Jess, the Lionesses, and any players who have suffered racism, on and off the pitch.”

Carter has started all four of England’s games at the tournament.

The defending champions face Italy on Tuesday night in Geneva in the Euros semi-finals. If they win and reach the final, they will play either Germany or Spain, who face each other on Wednesday.

The Lionesses also said that until now, they have chosen to take the knee before matches.

“It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism,” they said.

England won’t be taking the knee before semi-final

The Lionesses said they have agreed as a squad to remain standing before kick-off in the match against Italy.

“We hope the game can come together to see what more can be done.”

Kneeling, a symbolic anti-racism gesture, came to prominence in 2016 when NFL player Colin Kaepernick knelt in protest during the United States national anthem and became more widespread during the Black Lives Matter movement.

UK

Social media firms have gone backwards in tackling online hate, says Kick It Out chairman

Published

1 hour ago

July 20, 2025

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Social media firms have gone backwards in tackling online hate, says Kick It Out chairman

As head of football’s anti-racism body, there was dread for Sanjay Bhandari watching England’s Women’s Euros quarter-final with Sweden.

But that’s, grimly, how it always is. Concerned that black players will be singled out for blame. Not with a legitimate critique of their performances, but with toxicity and racism.

And now Kick It Out is working with the Football Association to support Jess Carter after the England defender spoke out over the abuse she has been targeted with throughout the Women’s European Championship.

The players want social media firms to do more, but Mr Bhandari, the Kick It Out chairman, is concerned by their limited approach to the scourge of online hate.

“The social media companies need to do far more,” he told Sky News. “They’ve actually gone backwards over the last four or five years, not forwards. It’s got worse on social media, not better.

“And they need to provide us with the tools to help keep us safe and to remove some of this toxicity from the platforms. They’re just not doing enough.

“I would say that X is the worst. It has become no-holds-barred.

“And with Instagram, it is much more in the direct messaging, and I think there needs to be much more done there to protect people from those messages.”

Meta, which owns Instagram, did not reply to a request for comment.

There was no response from an email sent to X’s press email address.

LinkedIn indicated that X’s UK managing director Jonathan Lewis’s account had seen a request for comment, but there was no response.

On Friday, Mr Lewis and Premier League club Burnley were celebrating a new partnership in an announcement that made no mention of the abuse that many players across the world face on X.

The hope is that the Online Safety Act will lead to social media firms implementing the safety tools required of them.

Mr Bhandari said: “They have to be enforced by law enforcement against individual perpetrators, and also the regulatory parts need to be forced against the social media companies to force them to do the things that they need to do.”

Grimly familiar situation

The FA reported the abuse suffered by Carter to police, and the hope is for speedy action because this is a grimly familiar situation.

After the men’s Euros final in 2021, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were racially abused after missing penalties in the shootout defeat to Italy.

While players have been taking a knee against racism in men’s and women’s games, the Lionesses feel that is no longer enough at these Euros.

They will stand instead before the semi-final with Italy because they say a new approach is needed to tackle racism.

Carter didn’t just face racism around the quarter-final that England won on penalties after fighting back from 2-0 down against Sweden here in Zurich.

She has been subjected to abuse throughout the Euros.

“I’m really feeling for Jess and what’s sad is that this is shocking, but not surprising,” Mr Bhandari said.

“I watch every England game, at every tournament, with the fear that after the match, there’s going to be abuse of a black player using the spurious basis of performance as an excuse to justify unjustifiable racism. All racism is unjustifiable.

“The fact that someone’s had a good or bad game in your opinion does not justify that kind of racist abuse.”

Environment

These cars are losing value fast — that’s GREAT news for used EV buyers!

Published

3 hours ago

July 20, 2025

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These cars are losing value fast — that's GREAT news for used EV buyers!

These Cars Are Losing Value So Fast It’s Almost Impressive — 2023 EQS, via Mercedes-Benz.

New car buyers like to talk about the latest tech and resale value, but most people don’t buy new cars. The used car market is 3x bigger than new, and if you’re content to let the last guy take that big depreciation hit by scoring a great deal on a reliable, low-mile used car you could save thousands on your next EV.

I know what you’re thinking: these posts are always weird because they’re disproportionally impacted by the COVID-era supply chain disruptions, and the obscene dealer mark-ups that came along with them.

But looking into the data shows trends that are much closer to the kind of think you’d expect to see before COVID, with high-end luxury models like S-Class Mercedes that trade on being new and shiny taking massive depreciation hits and more mainstream offerings from brands like Toyota and Honda that trade on economy and reliability holding strong.

That usual luxury brand hit seems like it’s being compounded over at Tesla, where Elon Musk’s highly publicized political leanings have polarized support for the brand, and alienated a huge portion of the market. Demand for new and used Tesla vehicles has plummeted, and iSeeCars reports that the Tesla Model S suffered the biggest percentage price drop of all makes and models over the last twelve months, showing the pioneering electric sedan’s average price in June 2025 at $46,700, nearly 16%, or $8,800 lower than it was 12 just months earlier.

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This isn’t a post about Tesla, though (not intentionally, at least). Instead, it’s about those EVs that have lost the most value since they were first sold new five-ish years ago. So, if you’re looking for a great deal on a pre-loved EV, you could do a lot worse than the list, below, presented in order from biggest “loss” of value.

Top 10 fastest-depreciating EVs

	Make & Model	MSRP	Avg. 5 yrs	>Difference	% Change
1	Audi Q8 e-tron	$74,400	$20,958	-$53,442	-71.9%
2	Jaguar I-Pace	$72,000	$20,047	-$51,953	-72.2%
3	Tesla Model S	$74,990	$27,835	-$47,155	-62.9%
4	Nissan Leaf (SV Plus)	$36,190	$13,000	-$23,190	-64.1%
5	Tesla Model X	$79,990	$32,940	-$47,050	-58.8%
6	Mercedes EQS	$104,400	$41,121	-$63,279	-60.6%
7	Tesla Model Y	$44,990	$23,775	-$21,215	-47.2%
8	Hyundai Kona Electric	$32,675	$13,860	-$18,815	-57.6%
9	Tesla Model 3	$38,990	$20,950	-$18,040	-46.3%
10	Porsche Taycan	$99,400	$48,445	-$50,955	-51.3%
11	Ford Mustang Mach-E	$39,995	$21,600	-$18,395	-46.0%

Disclaimer: the models and pricing shown, above, were sourced from CarsDirect, Carscoops, iSeeCars, USNews, and Yahoo!Finance. These deals may not be available in every market, and the standard “with approved credit” fine print should be considered implied. Check with your local dealer(s) for more information.

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