 World & Nation

Harvard University graduates are seen in Cambridge, Mass., May 26, 2022. The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington heard oral arguments Oct. 31, 2022, in two cases challenging affirmative action consideration in admissions. One case involves Harvard and the other involves the Uni-

versity of North Carolina. CNS photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters

CATHOLIC HIGHER ED WEIGHS IN ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION POLICIES BEING CONSIDERED BY SUPREME COURT

WASHINGTON • A divided and often skeptical Supreme Court heard two cases Oct. 31 challenging race-conscious policies used in university admissions to obtain diverse student populations.

Students for Fair Admissions, the group challenging these admissions policies, wanted the Court to overturn its 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger in which it said schools could consider race in the admissions process. In 2016, the Court rejected a challenge to a race-conscious admissions program at the University of Texas at Austin. The student group challenged the affirmative action admission policy at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University.

By the end of the first session of arguments, a majority of the Justices seemed ready to rule against the use of affirmative action in admissions policies and the second set of arguments seemed to further cement this view.

Catholic colleges as a group weighed in on the two cases, urging the Court to uphold affirmative action in admissions. Fifty-six Catholic colleges and universities joined an amicus brief filed by Georgetown University emphasizing that the right to consider racial diversity in admissions is essential to their academic and religious missions and is “inextricably intertwined” with their religious foundations.

The brief, joined by the University of Notre Dame, the College of the Holy Cross, DePaul University and Villanova University, among others, argued that the right to achieve a diverse student body is rooted in the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and free exercise of religion.

It said this is particularly true for Catholic institutions of higher education whose ability to have discretion in how they choose students is critical to their religious missions.

Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University, tweeted Oct. 31 that more Catholic colleges and universities should have defended this policy. “Catholic higher ed must do much more to promote models of access, equity and justice on our own campuses, and we should be advocates and activists for students of color who are still marginalized in too many places,” she said.

BISHOPS URGE CONGRESS TO BE IN ‘RADICAL SOLIDARITY’ WITH MOTHERS, CHILDREN

WASHINGTON • Calling upon Congress for “radical solidarity” with mothers and babies – both born and unborn – four bishops advanced an ambitious legislative and policy agenda that prioritizes the well-being of families in a letter to lawmakers. The measures proposed by the chairmen of four U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committees detail a “vision for an authentically life-affirming society.”

Dated Oct. 26, the letter explained that following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June that reversed the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, there is an opportunity to “redouble efforts toward a culture of life that respects and supports the dignity of every person at every stage.” Describing the court’s decision as “extraordinary,” the bishops said that the work to support families must be widened.

“We are praying and working for changes in hearts and minds, circumstances and policy, that will help everyone to treasure each and every fellow human being in a society oriented to supporting children and their parents,” the letter said. “In other words, we hope for the day when abortion is unthinkable because society has successfully reckoned with the challenges of raising children in the modern world and has decided to make the full flourishing of children and their families the highest goal, without anyone being exclude,” it said.

• Catholic News Service

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