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Students occupy Columbia University's campus

US College Students Demonstrate in Solidarity With Palestinians, Columbia Protesters

"Columbia University made a huge mistake calling the cops on student protesters," said one educator. "It has transformed the activism of hundreds of students into a student movement of thousands."

Undeterred by Columbia University's sanctioning of a crackdown by the New York Police Department in which at least 108 people were arrested on Thursday for protesting Israel's war on Gaza, dozens of students continued to camp out on the campus' West Lawn Friday as solidarity protests cropped up at other schools across the country.

Students at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC) set up tents at a rally, while the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee announced a walkout to express solidarity with "steadfast Columbia students" and emergency protests were announced at Boston University; Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; and Ohio State University.

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Harm Will Come From This Right-Wing Attack on Affirmative Action

The experience of California—where affirmative action was eliminated by Proposition 209 in 1996—shows that it still will be possible to have diversity in higher education, but it will take sustained effort and it will be difficult.

For decades, conservatives have railed against judicial activism, but Thursday’s decision striking down affirmative action by colleges and universities in admissions was the height of conservative judicial activism. The court rejected almost half a century of precedents, overturned decisions made by public and private universities across the country, and ignored the history of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

The experience of California—where affirmative action was eliminated by Proposition 209 in 1996—shows that it still will be possible to have diversity in higher education, but it will take sustained effort and it will be difficult.

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'With Let-Them-Eat-Cake Obliviousness,' Supreme Court Ends Affirmative Action for Colleges

In a blistering dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that "the court subverts the constitutional guarantee of equal protection by further entrenching racial inequality in education, the very foundation of our democratic government and pluralistic society."

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in a pair of cases that affirmative action admissions programs at two universities are unconstitutional, a decision excoriated in dissents by liberal justices including Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote that the court's right-wing supermajority is "entrenching inequality in education."

The justices ruled that racially conscious admissions programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University violate the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause. The vote was 6-3 in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina (UNC) and 6-2 in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, from which Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself because she once served on one of Harvard's governing boards.

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affirmative-action

US College Students Demonstrate in Solidarity With Palestinians, Columbia Protesters

"Columbia University made a huge mistake calling the cops on student protesters," said one educator. "It has transformed the activism of hundreds of students into a student movement of thousands."

UNC Paper Fills Front Page With Text Messages Terrified Students, Families Sent During Shooting

"These students have lived their entire lives under threat of violent death and tragedy," said one observer.

Harm Will Come From This Right-Wing Attack on Affirmative Action

The experience of California—where affirmative action was eliminated by Proposition 209 in 1996—shows that it still will be possible to have diversity in higher education, but it will take sustained effort and it will be difficult.

'With Let-Them-Eat-Cake Obliviousness,' Supreme Court Ends Affirmative Action for Colleges

In a blistering dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that "the court subverts the constitutional guarantee of equal protection by further entrenching racial inequality in education, the very foundation of our democratic government and pluralistic society."

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