New Lawsuit Challenges Race Based Admissions at University of Texas

It was eight years between the date that Abagail Fisher, a woman who has denied admission to the University of Texas because she is White, sued over the use of race as a condition of admission and the date that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected her case.

Now, 1200 WOAI news reports, we are back at square one again, with a new state lawsuit challenging the use of race in UT System admissions.

This lawsuit is filed by attorney Edward Blum, the same lawyer who represented Fisher.  This time he is representing the non profit Students for Fair Admissions, which is an organization headed by Blum.

This time, Blum claims the UT admissions policy violates Texas law, and the Texas Constitution.

"There is only one thing wrong with it...they classify students by race, and treat them differently by race," Blum told News Radio 1200 WOAI.

The University says its racial preference system is very narrowly tailors to make sure the student body 'serves the interests of the state.'  

The University has long said that race is one of a long list of qualifications it uses to decides who gets into the Austin flagship campus, and University of Texas sytem campuses statewide.  Other include, for example, athletic ability, a students's home town and financial background, and whether a student excells in other academic areas, from science to the arts.

But Blum says, under the law, race can't be one of them.

"UT's admissions policies, which classify students by race and treats them differently because of their race," he said.  "That is a clear violation of state law."

Blum says 'some of the members' of th Students for Fair Admissions were recently denied admission to the University of Texas.

Like the Fisher case, this new lawsuit is expected to take years to make its way through the courts.


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