Sotomayor, J., dissenting
admissions officers may, but need not, consider a student’s self-reported racial identity when assigning overall ratings. Id., at 166, 169, 180. Even after so many layers of competitive review, Harvard typically ends up with about 2,000 tentative admits, more students than the 1,600 or so that the university can admit. Id., at 170. To choose among those highly qualified candidates, Harvard considers “plus factors,” which can help “tip an applicant into Harvard’s admitted class.” Id., at 170, 191. To diversify its class, Harvard awards “tips” for a variety of reasons, including geographic factors, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and race. Ibid.
There is “no evidence of any mechanical use of tips.” Id., at 180. Consistent with the Court’s precedents, Harvard properly “considers race as part of a holistic review process,” “values all types of diversity,” “does not consider race exclusively,” and “does not award a fixed amount of points to applicants because of their race.” Id., at 190.[1] Indeed, Harvard’s admissions process is so competitive and the use of race is so limited and flexible that, as “SFFA’s own expert’s analysis” showed, “Harvard rejects more than two-thirds of Hispanic applicants and slightly less than half of all African-American applicants who are among the top 10% most academically promising applicants.” Id., at 191.
The courts below correctly rejected SFFA’s view that Harvard’s use of race is unconstitutional because it impacts overall Hispanic and Black student representation by 45%. See Brief for Petitioner 79. That 45% figure shows that
- ↑ Justice Gorsuch suggests that only “applicants of certain races may receive a ‘tip’ in their favor.” Ante, at 9. To the extent Justice Gorsuch means that some races are not eligible to receive a tip based on their race, there is no evidence in the record to support this statement. Harvard “does not explicitly prioritize any particular racial group over any other and permits its admissions officers to evaluate the racial and ethnic identity of every student in the context of his or her background and circumstances.” Harvard I, 397 F. Supp. 3d 126, 190, n. 56 (Mass. 2019).
