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U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action In UT Admissions

Allison Shelley
/
The Texas Tribune
Abigail Fisher, right, plaintiff in Fisher v. University of Texas, leaves the U.S. Supreme Court with Edward Blum of the Project on Fair Representation after oral arguments in the case, in Washington, D.C., Dec. 9, 2015.

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning upheld a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier decision that the University of Texas at Austin can use affirmative action when considering student admissions.

In a 4-3 decision, the high court rejected Abigail Fisher’s claim that she was discriminated against because she is white in her application to UT. She was denied admission in 2008, but filed a lawsuit arguing that black and Hispanic students who were less qualified got in instead of her.

The university fought back stating that they had a right to take race into consideration and their fight was heard twice by the Supreme Court. The court has no upheld the limited use of race twice.

Texas Public Radio will have more on this developing story.