Which case upheld race-conscious admissions to promote diversity without quotas?

• A. Brown v. Board of Education
• B. Plessy v. Ferguson
• C. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
• D. Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is that race can be used in admissions to promote the benefits of a diverse student body, but only when it is narrowly tailored and not driven by quotas. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan Law School’s race-conscious admissions policy because it was part of a holistic review that treated race as one factor among many. The Court found that achieving a diverse student body serves a compelling educational interest, and that the program was designed to be narrowly tailored—using race as a factor without establishing fixed quotas and with ongoing scrutiny to prevent simplistic numerical targets. This distinguishes it from cases aiming at segregation or unequal treatment in general. For context, Bakke rejected fixed numerical quotas but allowed race to be considered as one factor in admissions; Brown v. Board of Education and Plessy v. Ferguson deal with segregation doctrine rather than admissions policies in higher education.