Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf
Page Number: 11

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

breakdown of applicants by race.  The “goal,” according to 
Harvard’s  director  of  admissions,  “is  to  make  sure  that 
[Harvard does] not hav[e] a dramatic drop-off ” in minority
admissions  from  the  prior  class.    2  App.  in  No.  20–1199, 
pp.  744,  747–748.  Each  applicant  considered  by  the  full 
committee is discussed one by one, and every member of the 
committee must vote on admission.  980 F. 3d, at 170.  Only
when an applicant secures a majority of the full committee’s 
votes is he or she tentatively accepted for admission.  Ibid. 
At the end of the full committee meeting, the racial compo-
sition  of  the  pool  of  tentatively  admitted  students  is  dis-
closed to the committee.  Ibid.; 2 App. in No. 20–1199, at 
861. 

The  final  stage  of  Harvard’s  process  is  called  the  “lop,” 
during  which  the  list  of  tentatively  admitted  students  is 
winnowed  further  to  arrive  at  the  final  class.   Any  appli-
cants  that  Harvard  considers  cutting  at  this  stage  are
placed  on  a  “lop  list,”  which  contains  only  four  pieces  of 
information: 
legacy  status,  recruited  athlete  status, 
financial aid eligibility, and race.  980 F. 3d, at 170.  The 
full  committee  decides  as  a  group  which  students  to  lop.
397 F. Supp. 3d 126, 144 (Mass. 2019).  In doing so, the com-
mittee can and does take race into account.  Ibid.  Once the 
lop  process  is  complete,  Harvard’s  admitted  class  is  set. 
Ibid.  In the Harvard admissions process, “race is a deter-
minative  tip  for”  a  significant  percentage  “of  all  admitted 
African American and Hispanic applicants.”  Id., at 178. 

B 
Founded  shortly  after  the  Constitution  was  ratified, 
the University of North Carolina (UNC) prides itself on be-
ing  the  “nation’s  first  public  university.”  567  F. Supp. 
3d 580, 588 (MDNC 2021).  Like Harvard, UNC’s “admis-
sions  process  is  highly  selective”:  In  a  typical  year,  the 
school  “receives  approximately  43,500  applications  for