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Trump’s Next Fight With Universities: Racial ‘Proxies’ in Admissions
Wall Street Journal ^ | August 24, 2025 | Matt Barnum

Posted on 08/24/2025 1:53:50 PM PDT by karpov

After months of targeting universities over antisemitism allegations, the Trump administration is turning to a new focus: whether schools are using proxies for race in admissions to diversify student bodies.

This emphasis is emerging in recent edicts from federal agencies and in the White House’s scrutiny of specific universities.

In late July, Attorney General Pam Bondi warned in a memo against using “unlawful proxies” for race—such as geography or applicant essays on overcoming hardships—in admissions. Soon after, the U.S. Education Department announced it would require universities to report new data on applicants, broken down by race, to “ensure race-based preferences are not used.”

Universities have been prohibited from using racial preferences in admissions since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in 2023. The Trump administration suggests schools may be flouting the ban, though universities say they comply.

For conservatives and the administration, the current push represents a common-sense strategy to enforce and extend the Supreme Court’s ruling. Others say this approach distorts the court decision and could depress Black student enrollment, which has already fallen at some top colleges.

“There’s an effort to say that the law is something that it’s not. There’s an effort to say that it’s illegal to seek to have a diverse student body,” said Peter McDonough, general counsel for the American Council on Education, a university lobbying group.

In the Supreme Court ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that in college admissions, a “student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race.”

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: affirmativeaction; college; collegeadmissions; dei; racialpreferences

1 posted on 08/24/2025 1:53:50 PM PDT by karpov
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To: karpov
full article
2 posted on 08/24/2025 1:54:20 PM PDT by karpov
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To: karpov

Again, constitutional issues.

So what?

Who cares about the Constitution?

The Constitution, maybe the most inspired political document ever created that birthed one of the greatest and freest nations ever, is the ONLY LEGAL BULWARK OF FREEDOM against the tyranny of the Left and the totalitarian federal gov’t.

That is why the Constitution is hated by the tyrants of this world an this country, and should be preserved, protected and defended by Patriots who love America and her Free Constitutional Republic.


3 posted on 08/24/2025 1:58:18 PM PDT by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
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To: karpov

Great! Full steam ahead and wipe that DEI crap out wherever it is found.


4 posted on 08/24/2025 2:11:03 PM PDT by SharpenedEdge (Stockpile. Prepare. Arm. Train. A Storm is coming.)
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To: karpov
"Other say this approach distorts the court decision and could depress Black student enrollment..." ipso facto
5 posted on 08/24/2025 2:14:22 PM PDT by A strike (f the UK/MI6 effort to sucker the US into perpetuating their delusion of British world importance)
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To: karpov

All worked out in the movie Soul Man.

https://www.google.com/search?q=images+soul+man+movie&sca_esv=d1d8d425e733f56a&udm=2&biw=1052&bih=506&ei=7YCraLq0M9vDp84P1evT6Ak&ved=0ahUKEwj63rSAr6SPAx


6 posted on 08/24/2025 2:17:13 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: karpov

DOJ should use DEI’s underlying assumptions against the universities. Get the admissions stats on SATs and use “disparate impact” to show that the universities are discriminating against high SAT achievers, such as Asians and Whites.


7 posted on 08/24/2025 2:19:12 PM PDT by DeweyCA ( )
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To: karpov

Ain’t no problem with diversity inside my Tv. Just flipin thru the channels and black folks are everywhere, you would think that 90 plus percent of the populus were that flavor, oh wait pbr bull riding is on, what a racis show/s


8 posted on 08/24/2025 2:20:41 PM PDT by Recompennation
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To: karpov

My comment may be slifhtly difderent but in the long there is a parallel.

Here in Vermont school systems are still indoctrinating stucdents from the ground up on DEI. Its never stopped , what they did was drop the DEI moniker and re- named it something else.

It really infuriates me to think they can get away with this


9 posted on 08/24/2025 2:30:32 PM PDT by thesligoduffyflynns (DONT DRINK & DRONE 🤓 HAVE A NICE DAY 😀 GATORS WITH LAZERS)
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To: karpov

Got a talented daughter who’ll earn great credentials in high school and who wants admission to one of the Ivies? Just have her legally change her name to LaToya (or the like) for her high school transcripts - she can always change it back to what she started with somewhere down the line, once it’s served its purpose. And an analogous option would work for guys as well.

Just try to make sure you don’t schedule an interview with an admissions counselor.


10 posted on 08/24/2025 2:32:04 PM PDT by Stosh
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To: DeweyCA
The legal notion of "disparate impact" doesn't apply to whites because whites are not a legal "protected class."

The whole notion of "disparate impact" was invented to give preference to blacks.

11 posted on 08/24/2025 2:36:53 PM PDT by pierrem15 ("Massacrez-les, car le seigneur connait les siens" )
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To: karpov

“though universities say they comply”

There is no doubt in my mind that the lowlifes which dominate academia relish the thought of lying to the public in order to advance a hard left agenda.


12 posted on 08/24/2025 2:49:15 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: karpov

Why don’t we make it illegal to ask for “race” information on applications?


13 posted on 08/24/2025 3:08:51 PM PDT by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
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To: karpov

The antisemitism thing is minor next to the patently unconstitutional ethnic and racial discrimination they have been exercising in admissions for decades. They have done everything in furtherance of it but impose an admissions tax on Asians much like the old poll tax on blacks in the old south. Time to end it in all its devious surreptitious forms.


14 posted on 08/24/2025 3:37:24 PM PDT by chuckee
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To: karpov
Roberts wrote that in college admissions, a “student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual

FU Roberts. How about performance and ability?

15 posted on 08/24/2025 4:31:35 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.)
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To: MV=PY
Why don’t we make it illegal to ask for “race” information on applications?

They will probably just replace it with a question like this:

What is your favorite condiment? A - Mayo, B - Salsa, C - BBQ sauce, D - Soy sauce

16 posted on 08/24/2025 5:22:15 PM PDT by NewMexLurker
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To: karpov

“Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that in college admissions, a “student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race.””

That would be classic Roberts doubletalk that undoes the rest of an opinion.

For example, “My experience of growing up with a sister named Tanika shaped me profoundly.”


17 posted on 08/24/2025 8:05:17 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: MV=PY
Why don’t we make it illegal to ask for “race” information on applications?

They did, but the University can still determine "race" pretty accurately based on essay responses or other non-answer answers. And give minorities bonus points because they "had more hardship to overcome" in their essay, etc.
18 posted on 08/24/2025 9:37:53 PM PDT by Svartalfiar (-)
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To: karpov

The fact that Harvard offers remedial math classes is prima facia proof that it doesn’t admit favored races in admissions.


19 posted on 08/25/2025 9:13:36 AM PDT by WASCWatch ( WASC)
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