Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision that effectively ends the use of race as a factor in university admissions. The court issued the decision in Students for Fair Admission, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, ruling that Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.

Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee, the chief civil attorney for the largest county in Texas, issued the following statement:

“The Supreme Court’s decision today is a national travesty. Universities across the country work to ensure that all Americans have a fair shot at furthering their education. But our country’s institutions have for centuries failed to directly address the impacts on Black Americans of slavery, government-sponsored prohibitions from participating in our democracy and economy, and systemic racism in private companies. This legacy of discrimination means Black people in our country on average start off having to gain ground on others. We cannot close the door on affirmative action unless our country’s leaders address those issues.

My experience as a Black lawyer has put me in spaces where almost no one looked like me or had similar life experiences. This Supreme Court decision eliminates a key program that was working to help ensure that those rooms look different when Black kids like my son head to college.”

County Attorney Menefee briefly worked on the Students for Fair Admission, Inc. v. Harvard case as a volunteer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund when the case was in United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.