Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing the key opinion for the 6-3 ruling, said students must be treated on the basis of their “experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.”
“Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice,” he wrote.