Session title:

Education Researchers to Examine Research on Race-Conscious Admissions and the Constitutionality of the University of Texas Admissions Program

This session explores the role of research and its applications in current policy and legal actions involving the upcoming Supreme Court case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. Participants focus on social science research highlighting the benefits of diversity in educational settings, which is being challenged in Fisher in the current Supreme Court term. At issue is the undergraduate admissions program at UT-Austin, which includes race as one of several criteria considered when evaluating applicants. The panel looks at the arguments centered in social science research cited in the Supreme Court decision affirming the use of race in admissions at the University of Michigan Law School in Grutter v. Bollinger and its potential application in Fisher.