The long-anticipated high profile cases that will challenge the right of universities across the land to consider race in the admissions process have landed a date on the Supreme Court’s docket. That date? October 21, 2022. The Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina case will be heard at 10 AM Eastern Time. Justice Brown Jackson will then recuse herself before the high court hears the Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College case since Justice Brown Jackson has a prior affiliation with the institution as a former member of the institution’s Board of Overseers.

As Alexa Schwerha reports for Campus Reform in a piece entitled “Supreme Court sets date for UNC, Harvard affirmative action cases,” “The Harvard case involves the question of whether or not the university violated Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race. The UNC case, on the other hand, will determine whether or not a ‘race-neutral’ alternative can be rejected by the university ‘without proving that the alternative would cause a dramatic sacrifice in academic quality or the educational benefits of overall student-body diversity.’ In preparation for the high bench hearing, both Harvard and UNC filed amicus briefs that asked the court to toss the cases on the basis that their policies are protected by precedent. The UNC brief claims that the ‘historical record’ of the Fourteenth Amendment allows for ‘appropriately tailored race-conscious decisionmaking.'”

The decisions of the nation’s high court could indeed change the landscape of college admissions in America forevermore. So circle the key date — October, 21, 2022 — to learn how oral arguments go for all sides in these high profile cases. And do stay tuned for updates on these seminal cases!