Grutter V. Bollinger Case Brief

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Prompt 1

Does the decision of Grutter v. Bollinger reaffirm or depart from the court's decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke? I believe that Bollinger is not a departure, but reaffirms the Supreme Court's decision in Bakke because they upheld similar opinions. Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke is significant because it upheld affirmative action, with the court stating that the fourteenth amendment places state interest in fostering diversity within the classroom, situating race as a constitutional admissions factor. However, during the 1964 trial it was concluded that racial quotas were unconstitutional, for example, how UC Davis set aside 16 of their 100 seats for minority students.

In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Equal Protection Clause was found to not prohibit the use of race as an admission factor based on compelling state interest to create a diverse student body. The majority felt the 7-point variable granted for the factor of race was not significant enough to influence overall acceptance rates. In other words, the practice does not unduly harm non-minority applicants. However, the decision places emphasis on race-conscious admission policies that must be used to promote diversity and thus …show more content…
Lee Bollinger et al. would have changed if the school’s admission policy used gender rather than racial preferences required a review of past court decisions surrounding similar admissions questions. In United States v. Virginia, the court ruled against Virginia Military Institute's gendered admissions policy concluding the university failed to show sufficient reasoning as to how their male-only admission policy worked to further campus diversity. Similarly, in Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan, the court ruled against the university's decision to only enroll female applicants, claiming the policy did not provide a persuasive justification for the gendered admission
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