Group Sues UNC, Charging Race Bias In Admissions

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

An organization called the Project on Fair Representation filed a lawsuit against UNC Monday, charging racial discrimination in its admissions policy.

The group also filed suit against Harvard University as well.

The suit against UNC cites a 2013 Supreme Court case, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, in which the Court ruled that it was acceptable for colleges to pursue diversity as a goal in admissions – but also that they should pursue “race-neutral alternatives” first, and any race-conscious policy must be “narrowly tailored.”

The suits were filed Monday in Boston and Greensboro. In both cases, the plaintiff is actually a group called Students for Fair Admissions.

On Monday, Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications and Public Affairs Rick White issued a statement in response to the lawsuit. It reads:

“The University is aware of the suit filed today by the Project on Fair Representation. The University stands by its current undergraduate admissions policy and process. Further, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights determined in 2012 that UNC-Chapel Hill’s use of race in the admissions process is consistent with federal law.

“As the University wrote in a 2012 amicus “friend of the court” brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the University continues to affirm the educational benefits diversity brings to students, as well as the importance of preparing students for a diverse society and assuring a pool of strong state leaders by admitting undergraduates from every background.”

‹

UNC Announces Plans of 'Free Tuition' for Certain Undergraduate Students

UNC’s flagship campus announced another step to improve affordability and access to North Carolinians, sharing plans to provide free tuition and fees to certain undergraduate students beginning in 2024. UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz sent a message to the campus community on Friday afternoon, saying students from North Carolina whose families make less than $80,000 a […]

UNC Students Call to Raise Graduate Student Pay

Facing an affordability crisis in Chapel Hill, graduate students are calling for a change. UNC’s graduate and professional student government leaders are stepping up their efforts to raise the graduate student pay. 

New UNC Scholarship for Military Students Looks to Tackle Loan Debt

The Lieutenant Colonel Bernard W. Dibbert Carolina Covenant for Military Families Endowed Scholarship Fund was made possible by a $2 million gift from the UNC General Alumni Association. The new scholarship announced last week targets loan debt from military-affiliated UNC – Chapel Hill scholars and will cover tuition debt for 25 students. At the scholarship’s […]

N Carolina University, Group Argue Over Race in Admissions

North Carolina’s flagship public university is defending its use of race in admitting students and wants a lawsuit filed against it by a group representing past and potential applicants and parents to be dismissed. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill filed written arguments in federal court on Friday, as did lawyers for the organization called […]

UNC Receives Record Number of Applicants 13th Year in a Row

For the thirteenth consecutive year, UNC has received a record number of first-year applicants for fall of 2018. 43,384 students applied, a six percent increase from last year. UNC offered admission to 5,125 in state students and 2,742 out-of-state students, and students were notified of their admission decisions on January 26. Stephen Farmer, vice provost […]

UNC Sets New Record for First-Year Applications

For 12 years running, UNC has set a new record for first-year applications for the upcoming academic year. More than 40,000 students applied to the university before the January 16 deadline. That’s a nearly 14 percent increase over the number of applicants last year, the second-largest increase in the last 25 years. Vice Provost for […]

UNC-Chapel Hill Tops "Best Value in Public Colleges" List

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has topped a noteworthy list of schools that provide a stellar education without burdening students with insurmountable financial difficulties. For the sixteenth year in a row, Kiplinger, a business news publisher that produces the most widely read economic forecasting periodical in the world, recognized the stomping grounds […]

UNC Announces Fundraising Challenge for Financial Aid

An anonymous donation is spurring fundraising efforts for need-based and merit-based scholarships at UNC. Officials announced on Tuesday the university had accepted a $20 million “match challenge” to benefit both Carolina Covenant and Morehead-Cain Scholarships. The challenge, known as the “Give for Good: Scholarship Challenge,” will allow UNC to continue meeting the university’s mission of […]

UNC Students Use Federal Law To Get Admissions Data

UNC students who want to know what’s in their admission files are using a little-known federal law to get a look.

Group Sues UNC, Charging Race Bias In Admissions

The group also sued Harvard.

›