TEXAS, USA — Congressman Marc Veasey says the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on college admissions has upended decades of precedent and will severely impact Black Americans seeking higher education.
The Court ruled that colleges and universities can no longer consider race as a basis for admission.
“I just think that it’s terrible. I think it’s a blow to our country and they’re setting us back socially,” the North Texas Democrat said on Inside Texas Politics.
Here in our state, the University of Texas at Austin is the only public university impacted by the ruling. Some private universities, such as Rice in Houston and SMU in Dallas, will also have to examine their admissions policies.
And Veasey argues it’s a problem that race will continue to be a factor as colleges and universities recruit for sports, but it’s not going to be allowed for academics.
“People feel much more comfortable with the idea that you can give Black students, many of whom have much lower GPAs, much lower test scores, that they can come to school and entertain you, and jump for you, and throw the ball for you, and run the ball for you and shoot it for you, but for some reason, people get angry, including these six Supreme Court justices, someone gets angry if a kid has a 3.8 GPA and a 1,300 on his SAT and he can’t run and shoot and kick the ball for you,” an animated Veasey told us.
The Democrat says the Court’s decision will also deny minorities an equal and fair opportunity and has failed disenfranchised students within the education system.
He says it’s now up to the schools to ensure diversity.
“We must not let this stop us from encouraging students to apply to colleges and universities of their choice,” said the Congressman. “Instead, we must call on institutions of higher education to be innovative in ensuring a diverse student body on campus.