Board of Regents vs. Bakke

There have been many cases that have come through America's court and some of them have been monumental cases that have truly shaped America's history. One of those monumental cases being Board of Regents vs. Bakke. The case Board of Regents vs. Bakke was a case that took place in 1978. This is a very well-known case in America. Especially when it comes to the topic of race within the college admissions process.

During the time of Board of Regents vs. Bakke America was in a space where they were still trying to figure out where they stood with all men being seen as equal. Although by this time a lot of progress had been made as fare all men being treated equally but we still had some work to do. This case Board of Regents vs. Bakke was a great example of affirmative action being shown. Affirmative action is Merriam-Webster, "the use of policies, legislation, programs, and procedures to improve the educational or employment opportunities of members of certain demographic groups (such as minority groups, women, and older people) as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination against such groups" This case had a very large impact in America and affirmative action was just one of the very few things.

Now, you keep on seeing it be said that this case Board of Regents vs. Bakke had a very large impact on America you may wonder what was this case all about. As stated above during the time of this case America was still trying to fully live up to what they said about all men being created equally. They were striving to make sure that diversity was being seen in all aspects of life. From diversity being within workplaces to schools. Regents of the University of California only had a certain number of white students and students of color that they would accept. They had it set up this way to ensure that there would be diversity within the school. According to ThoughtCo., "In the early 1970s, many colleges and universities across America were in the beginning stages of making major changes to their admissions programs in an effort to diversify the student body by increasing the number of minority students on campus."

The University of California was a school that Allen Bakke definitely had his heart set on. Bakke worked in NASA for some time, but he always had a very strong interest in medicine. The University of California is where Bakke strongly desired to fulfill his dreams of studying medicine, but Bakke was not only rejected once but twice from the University of California. According to ThoguhtCo.,"Bakke received his second rejection letter from UCD at the end of September 1973...The complaint included a request that UCD admit Bakke into its program because the special admission's program rejected him because of his race." We have to remember that during this time America was really emphasizing diversification being displayed. 

When Bakke was rejected from the University of California, he felt like his reasoning for being rejected was not valid enough. The University of California had a special program that would ensure they only accept a certain number of white students and students of color. Bakke felt that this program was unfair because he had all the requirements and everything to be accepted into school but because of this special program a student of color got accepted instead of him. 

Bakke eventually filed a lawsuit against the University of California. According to ThoughtCo., "On November 20,1974, Judge Manker found the program unconstitutional and in violation of Title VI, "no race or ethnic group should ever be granted privileges or immunities not given to every other race." You may wonder what was the result of this case? What impact did it have on the college admissions process? As a result of this case ThoughtCo., "The Supreme Court upheld affirmative action ruling that race could be one of several determining factors in college admission policies, but it rejected the use of racial quotas as unconstitutional."

Did the supreme court make the right decision on this case? There are still ongoing conversations surrounding this case. Some believe that the color of your skin should not play a determining factor in whether or not you get accepted into college. While others believe that it should play a part in whether or not you get accepted into college. So, who's right and who's wrong? This case definitely had an impact in America specifically within the college admissions process.