Welcome Back, TiTans Affirmative action overturn prompts reexamination of college application strategies, raises equity concerns

Annabel Honigstein Forum Editor

On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court ended affirmative action in college admissions, preventing universities from using race as a factor in acceptances. In a 6-3 vote, the court’s conservative-leaning majority overturned precedent in its ruling on Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. The rulings go into effect this year, meaning that current high school seniors will be the first impacted class.

Affirmative action is defined as an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for historically underrepresented groups. While approaches can vary — some address race, while others address socioeconomic status, ability and gender — the Supreme Court specifically overruled race-conscious admissions, policies that use race as a factor in deciding which qualified applicants will be admitted to universities. Although Gunn’s counselors don’t plan on making large-scale changes in response to the ruling, they will

“Opportunities continue to exist in the application to express who you are. Use these opportunities to represent your identity and what makes you unique as a person.”

— College advisor Jonathan Fidani

encourage students to capture a holistic view of their identity in applications, according to Gunn college advisor Jonathan Fidani. “I really want to stress to the students that opportunities continue to exist in the application to express who you are,” he said. “Use these opportunities to represent your identity and what makes you unique as a person — whether that be race, background, experiences, things of that nature.”

Some universities have already facilitated this approach through changing their supplemental essay prompts for the upcoming admissions cycle. Stanford University, for example, changed a prompt asking students what was meaningful to them to one telling them to “describe what aspects of (their) life experiences, interests and character” make them good candidates for the university.

Fidani also believes that many institutions will still strive to establish diverse, inclusive communities. “The Supreme Court made a law, and colleges must respectfully abide by this. I’m encouraged by the

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