'SFFA v. Harvard': Understanding and Contextualizing the Decision and Its Impact

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions "Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College" (2023) and "Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina et al." (2023), hereafter collectively referred to as "SFFA v. Harvard," have garnered attention, especially among higher education administrators (Schermele, 2023). This attention is, of course, justified because the decisions represent a major shift in the way the U.S. Supreme Court has approached race-conscious admissions. The court has changed direction in its willingness to accept the educational benefits of diversity as a justification for utilizing race in admissions programs. In this article, the authors take a look at the "SFFA v. Harvard" decision, offer some context for the role of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and discuss implications for higher education practitioners.