U.S. Supreme Court strikes down race-conscious college admissions policies

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that race-conscious admissions policies used by colleges and universities are unconstitutional, in a pair of cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Supreme Court stated that the admissions policies of Harvard and the University of North Carolina (UNC), two of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the country, violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, noting that "the Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause."

"Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points," he wrote, adding that "we have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today."

Roberts noted that "the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual - not on the basis of race."

"Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual's identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin," he wrote.