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18  STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT 

AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE 
Opinion of the Court 

an institution of higher education.”  Id., at 311–312.  And 
that was so, he opined, because a university was entitled as 
a matter of academic freedom “to make its own judgments 
as to . . . the selection of its student body.”  Id., at 312. 

But  a  university’s  freedom  was  not  unlimited.    “Racial 
and ethnic distinctions of any sort are inherently suspect,” 
Justice Powell explained, and antipathy toward them was 
deeply  “rooted  in  our  Nation’s  constitutional  and  demo-
graphic history.”  Id., at 291.  A university could not employ 
a quota system, for example, reserving “a specified number
of seats in each class for individuals from the preferred eth-
nic groups.”  Id., at 315.  Nor could it impose a “multitrack
program  with  a  prescribed  number  of  seats  set  aside  for 
each identifiable category of applicants.”  Ibid.  And neither 
still  could  it  use  race  to  foreclose  an  individual  “from  all 
consideration  . . .  simply  because  he  was  not  the  right 
color.”  Id., at 318. 

The role of race had to be cabined.  It could operate only
as “a ‘plus’ in a particular applicant’s file.”  Id., at 317.  And 
even  then,  race  was  to  be  weighed  in  a  manner  “flexible 
enough  to  consider  all  pertinent  elements  of  diversity  in 
light  of  the  particular  qualifications  of  each  applicant.” 
Ibid.    Justice  Powell  derived  this  approach  from  what  he
called the “illuminating example” of the admissions system
then used by Harvard College.  Id., at 316.  Under that sys-
tem, as described by Harvard in a brief it had filed with the
Court, “the race of an applicant may tip the balance in his 
favor just as geographic origin or a life [experience] may tip 
the balance in other candidates’ cases.”  Ibid. (internal quo-
tation  marks  omitted).  Harvard  continued:  “A  farm  boy
from Idaho can bring something to Harvard College that a
Bostonian cannot offer.  Similarly, a black student can usu-
ally  bring  something  that  a  white  person  cannot  offer.” 
Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted).  The result, Har-
vard  proclaimed,  was  that  “race  has  been”—and  should 
be—“a factor in some admission decisions.”  Ibid. (internal