Non-profit group Students for Fair Admission is suing the University of Texas at Austin on behalf of two white students who claimed discrimination after being denied admission. The federal lawsuit marks the third time the University of Texas was sued over an admissions policy the group claims is “racially discriminatory.”
Students for Fair Admissions consists of over 20,000 students, parents, and others who believe that racial classifications and preferences in college admissions are “unfair, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.” Their lawsuit, filed on Monday, states that “at least two members” applied and were denied admission to UT Austin in 2018 and 2019.
A History of Lawsuits
In 2018, the group filed a similar case against UT but it was recently dismissed. They also sued administrators at Harvard University, claiming that the admissions practices were discriminatory against Asian-Americans. However, a judge upheld their admissions policy as constitutional.
The applicants, left unidentified in the lawsuit, are currently enrolled in different schools. However, they are ready to transfer to UT Austin “when it stops discriminating against applicants on the basis of race and ethnicity,” according to the lawsuit.
Students for Fair Admissions is pursuing a permanent injunction barring UT administration from using race in future undergraduate admissions. According to a Fall 2019 student profile posted on UT Austin’s website, 39.9% of the student body is white — the largest demographic.
A UT spokesperson, J.B. Bird, told Austin-American Statesman that the university is reviewing the latest lawsuit.
“We agreed with the judge’s decision to dismiss SFFA’s previous lawsuit, and we remain confident in the lawfulness and constitutionality of UT Austin’s holistic admissions policy, which the US Supreme Court upheld in 2016,” Bird said.
University of Texas Admissions Lawsuit — Sources
Austin-American Statesman: Group sues UT-Austin on behalf of white students who say they were unfairly denied admission
The University of Texas at Austin: Facts & Figures
