Foreword
On April 1, 2003, before packed U.S. Supreme Court chambers, lawyers argued the most significant challenge to affirmative action admissions programs at public universities in a quarter-century, while a crowd of around 6,000 protesters rallied outside.This is the first time since the 1978 case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke that the Court has directly considered a State university’s attempts to enroll a diverse student body. In that case, the Court was intensely divided, with five Justices unable to agree on a majority opinion. When this occurs, the Court has ruled that the narrowest opinion to gain a…
