Unaffirmed

The Supreme Court shook the academic world June 29 when it ruled that the use of affirmative action at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina was unconstitutional. The court was starkly split along ideological lines in both cases. 

Students at the University of Virginia who support race-conscious admissions policies had long anticipated the court’s verdict, and had spoken out ahead of the decision. Abdallah Maher Aljerjawi wrote an open letter to the student body, urging his peers to unite and protect affirmative action.

“Affirmative action is a core aspect of holistic admissions as it cares about the experiences shaping students,” writes Aljerjawi, a third-year nursing student. “Yet, simultaneously, the Supreme Court contradicts it by failing to recognize that nothing could shape an individual more profoundly than their own race.”

In his letter, Aljerjawi reflects on his immigration to the U.S. from Gaza, and the hurdles he’s subsequently faced in his life, education, and career.

“Though I have only been in America for five short years since I immigrated, I can confidently assert that being a minority in America presents a web of intricate and intertwined challenges,” he writes. “Obstacles in every facet of life, including racism, economic hardships, language barriers, and the ever-present fear of racial profiling during routine traffic stops—all of which compound. How can we turn a blind eye to race’s role when it is so rooted in these experiences?”

Fellow third-year Syrell Grier says even though he was anticipating the court would reject affirmative action, it still came as a shock to him and his fellow students.

“You come to expect it with this Supreme Court now,” he says. “It’s sad and heartbreaking.”

Grier, an economics major, Jefferson and Echols Scholar, and founder of the Black Economic Empowerment Society, believes he was likely a beneficiary of affirmative action in his application to UVA. 

“I came from a high school in Woodbridge, Virginia, called Gar-Field High School, and it’s majority low-income, so a lot of kids just don’t really branch out for those amazing opportunities like they should,” he says.

Grier notes that, though he did well academically at Gar-Field, having access to the support and opportunities available at UVA helped make him a better student. “If I were to go to an institution that’s not as high ranking, I might not have had those same resources and been able to sprout and develop into the person I am today. That’s the benefit of having affirmative action in place.”

The Supreme Court’s decision has also affected prospective students. Ammar Aljerjawr, a high school junior from Houston, Texas, was eyeing UVA as his top pick for college and visited Grounds in June. He’s worried that, without race-conscious admissions policies in place, the challenges he’s faced as a Palestinian immigrant may not be considered in his application.

Taking down affirmative action “will make my [acceptance] chances lower,” he says, “and will make me work twice as hard or three times as hard to just be the same level as others.”

Although UVA has not made a formal decision on how to handle a post-affirmative action admissions process, President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom delivered a joint statement in which they declared they will “of course continue to follow the law. We will also continue to do everything within our legal authority to recruit and admit a class of students who are diverse across every possible dimension and to make every student feel welcome and included here at UVA.”