“Today I want to offer some guidance to our nation’s colleges,” Biden said at the White House shortly after the ruling. “What I propose for consideration is a new standard where colleges take into account the adversity a student has overcome when selecting among qualified applicants.”
Biden quoted from Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion to suggest race can still play an indirect role in admissions. Biden said his counterproposal “also means examining where the student grew up and went to high school. It means understanding the particular hardships that each individual student has faced in life, including racial discrimination.”President Biden called on colleges to continue to encourage first-generation students and “keep an open door of opportunities.”Proponents for affirmative action in higher education rally in front of the US Supreme Court before oral arguments on October 31, 2022.