UNC panel discusses upcoming Supreme Court case to celebrate Constitution Day

To commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution, UNC held a panel Monday about an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case.

Speakers at the event, which was the University’s sixth annual celebration of Constitution Day, discussed the case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, which will be heard later this fall.

Students and faculty both attended the event.

“I hold the Constitution dear to my heart,” said Katie Varner, a first-year law student.

The case concerns the UT-Austin’s affirmative action admissions policy, and the ruling will determine if race can be used as a factor in admissions.

Five panel members spoke about the details of the case and its relevance to UNC’s admissions policy.

Allison Reid, assistant dean for communications in the School of Law, said the panelists were chosen based on their experience with affirmative action policy.

Some of the panel members — Jack Boger, dean of the UNC School of Law, Mark Dorosin, a law professor, and Elizabeth Haddix, an attorney at UNC Center for Civil Rights — submitted an amicus brief for the case.

Haddix said the brief featured points such as how affirmative action plays a modest but useful role in preparing for a diverse society since it is necessary to create strong state leaders from all backgrounds.

“Everyone recognized this had the potential to be a landmark decision,” Haddix said.

She said the abolishment of affirmative action policies would be a violation of U.S. equal protection rights.

Reid said the case was selected for discussion because of its timeliness and relevance.

Haddix said if the court rules in favor of Fisher, the complainant in the case, then it would undermine years of important precedents and weaken educational opportunities.

“It would be disastrous,” she said.

The brief also features work from panel member Charles Edward Daye, the deputy director of the UNC Center for Civil Rights.

He conducted a 10-year study that focused on the impact of diversity on education.

“Race is an issue of importance to all college and universities,” Boger said.

Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admissions Stephen Farmer, who also served on the panel, said UNC does not have any racial quotas in its admissions process.

Varner, the law student, said she thought the panel was very well done: “It was a diverse panel that did a very good job at explaining all the different issues involved with this case and affirmative action in general.”

A 2004 U.S. Constitutional amendment requires all publicly funded institutions to offer educational programming on the history of the U.S. Constitution. Per this amendment, the University funds an annual celebration of the day with a stipend.

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