On June 29, the Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent that allowed colleges and universities to consider race as one of many factors in college admissions. This is a blow to our democracy. The Charles F. Kettering Foundation has been preparing for such a decision for months. Earlier this year, the foundation and the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) brought together former college and university presidents in Washington, DC, to form a leadership group to support higher education and its role in American democracy. Also present at the February meeting were representatives of Public Agenda, PEN America, Campus Compact, and Sustained Dialogue Institute.

In anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision on Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the group prepared a written statement in the event that the decision found race-conscious admissions practices unconstitutional. That joint statement, signed by 99 former college presidents, is available on the foundation’s website here.

In this video clip from Kettering Conversations with Democracy Innovators held on June 13, 2023, in Washington, DC, Sheryll Cashin, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Civil Rights, and Social Justice at Georgetown University Law School, discusses creative ways to maintain diversity in college admissions.