Case on college admissions sent back to lower court

The a∞rmative action ruling allows a similar programin Colorado to go on

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sent a University ofTexas affirmative action case back to a lower court for further review, maintaining for now a system that allows race to be used as part of a holistic approach to admitting undergraduate college students.

The decision means theTexas school and other affirmative action programs such as the one used at theUniversity ofColorado can continue without changes.

However, the justices, in remanding the case back to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in NewOrleans, put colleges and universities on notice that their admission policies could be endangered after more scrutiny fromthe lower court.

“The reviewing court must ultimately be satisfied that no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity,” the court said in its majority opinion.

In the 7-1 decision— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the dissenter, while Justice Elena Kagan recused herself — the court decided the case of Fisher vs. The University of Texas. Abigail Fisher, an applicant to the university, argued race should not be used as an admissions factor.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the opinion, said the appeals court made legal errors when it upheld the university program. He said the lower court should hear the case again, “so that the admissions process can be considered and judged under a correct analysis.”

A spokesman for CU said the university remains convinced its admissions systemis on sol- id footing.

“TheUniversity ofColorado Boulder remains confident that its standards of admission are consistent with the parameters outlined by the high court today and in previous rulings,” CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said.“We will continue to watch other cases as they develop.”

AtColorado StateUniversity, executive director of admissions JimRawlins said lastweek the school felt confident about the legality of its admissions policy.

“We consider many things about students. We don’t believe we’ll dramatically have to change anything regarding our ability to speak to and evaluate diversity,” he said.

The plaintiff in the Fisher case argued that because the University of Texas had a policy in