Noble Schools official expresses 'huge amount of concern' after ruling rejecting affirmative action
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An official with Chicago's Noble Network of Charter Schools on Thursday called the U.S. Supreme Court ruling rejecting affirmative action in higher education a huge blow when it comes to equality and diversity.
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reported Thursday, Noble Schools senior director of college counseling Sarah MacCallum called the ruling Thursday a major setback - as the policy made education opportunities equal among all students.
"I felt deep sadness and a huge amount of concern for the students that we serve, and also for Black and brown students across the country," MacCallum said, "and so what we have seen is so much progress, and essentially this ruling coming out is rolling back decades of progress for students."
MacCallum also said the Supreme Court decision leaves upcoming high school seniors with a lot of questions. She said Noble Schools will have ongoing conversations to make sure students know everything they need to about the changes.
"We're also going to just make sure that this is a conversation that we're having in all classroom spaces in our high schools, to make sure that students know as much as they absolutely can and should know about the changes," MacCallum said.
MacCallum also said it is important some colleges and universities like Harvard are making statements reaffirming their commitment to diversity in light of the Supreme Court ruling.
The Supreme Court ruling stated that race-conscious admission policies of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violate the Constitution, thus bringing an end to affirmative action in higher education.
The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in the University of North Carolina case, and 6-2 in the Harvard dispute, as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
"The Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause," Roberts wrote. "Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today."
But Roberts wrote that universities can still consider "an applicant's discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise." Military academies are effectively exempt from the decision, due to the "potentially distinct interests" they present.
The Noble Schools network includes Baker College Prep, Butler College Prep, Chicago Bulls College Prep, DRW College Prep, Gary Comer College Prep, Gary Comer Middle School, Golder College Prep, Hansberry College Prep, ITW David Speer Academy, Johnson College Prep, Mansueto High School, Muchin College Prep, Noble Street College Prep, Pritzker College Prep, Rauner College Prep, Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy, The Noble Academy, and UIC College Prep.
