SEATTLE — The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to strike down affirmative action, banning the consideration of race in college admissions.
The ruling, released on Thursday, comes after students at Harvard and University of North Carolina challenged admissions policies.
There was swift reaction to the Supreme Court's decision.
"Naturally, it was anger. Although it was highly anticipated,” said Eddie Rye Jr, a community activist in Washington state.
At Seattle University, Andrew Siegel, a professor of Constitutional Law, said it was no surprise but still a disappointment.
"It is a pretty overwhelming and aggressive decision by the six Republican members of the court to really strike at the heart of affirmative action in higher education,” said Siegel.
The 6-3 decision means colleges and universities must stop using race as an admission factor, moving away from policies that have been in place in most states for decades.
"It is meant to create diversity in the classroom, but even more it's meant to balance the playing field,” said Siegel, referring to affirmative action.
Washington is one of a handful states in the U.S. that banned affirmative action. Back in 1998, voters approved Initiative 200, making a statement that they wanted to end preference based on race or sex. Then-Governor Gary Locke issued an executive directive, instructing state agencies to not use affirmative action. But In January of 2022, Governor Jay Inslee rescinded that directive, in what his office refers to as "overly restrictive guidance on affirmative action policies."
Now, there's the Supreme Court's ruling.
"The three descending justices say we need to soldier on and keep fighting those battles. And the six majority justices say, to a certain extent, time's up,” said Siegel.
"We got to do what we have to do. And we do have the power to do some things. We've done them before. We have to do them again,” said Rye Jr. "I'm not giving up hope. I'm all geared up to fight."