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SIU Statement on the Supreme Court Ruling on Affirmative Action in College Admissions

June 29, 2023

Members of the SIU System Community –

You may have some questions following the release of the decision by the United States Supreme Court regarding the use of race in college admissions. In response to the court’s ruling, the SIU Board of Trustees, President Mahony, SIUC Chancellor Lane, SIU School of Medicine Dean Kruse, and ²ÝÝ®¶ÌÊÓƵapp Chancellor Minor released the following statement.

Since 1978, the US Supreme Court has held that race may be considered, in addition to other factors in the admissions process, based on a "compelling interest" of fostering a diverse student body on college campuses which enhance the educational experience. Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, twin cases that seek the prohibition of limited consideration of an applicant’s racial or ethnic background in the higher education admissions process. The court took action to say that colleges and universities may no longer use race as an express factor in admissions.  

While the SIU System does not use race as a factor in undergraduate admissions decisions, our campus leaders are deeply concerned about the court’s decision. Today’s ruling coupled with similar decisions in several states across the country, may embolden critics of diversity and reverse generations of progress at colleges, universities and the nation.

The ²ÝÝ®¶ÌÊÓƵapp (SIU) campuses are unified in our commitment to our System priority of promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in all that we do. We share in the belief that an educational system that actively supports a diversity of students leads to more diverse thought and interaction on college campuses, which benefits all students.

In 2021, the SIU Board of Trustees took the bold move to declare that as a university system, it is anti-racist and would actively work towards developing and maintaining policies, behaviors and systems that enhance racial equity and promote positive and sustainable change for faculty, staff and students. It is based on this commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion (ADEI) that the university cautions that decisions like the one just made by the court will have a cooling effect on equity and inclusion efforts as well as lead to widening gaps in college completion. 

Fortunately for us in Illinois, these efforts have been very complementary to the policies and priorities of our statewide elected leaders, members of the state legislature and higher education policy leaders who have and will continue to make diversity a priority.

Despite this decision, the impact of which will continue to unfold, our goal will be to work within all legal limits to ensure our campuses are able to advance all mission-based ADEI goals and to promote the ideal that educational excellence depends on having institutions that condemn racism, promote diversity and inclusion and equitably focus on giving all students the tools they need to succeed in their college experience and beyond.