2014 and 2015 enrollees’ data used for lawsuit against UNC

The approximately 63,000 people who applied to enroll at UNC in fall 2014 and fall 2015 received letters on Nov. 13 notifying them that portions of their applications would be used as evidence in a lawsuit against UNC.

Students for Fair Admissions filed a lawsuit against UNC in November 2014 regarding admissions decisions based on race and ethnicity and have now filed a court order for application information from the University.

University spokesperson Jim Gregory said any information that could identify a student was redacted from the documents, and the defendants of the lawsuit are not allowed to use the information for any purpose other than the lawsuit.

“Redacted records were provided so Students for Fair Admissions don’t have the names of anyone who applied those two years, and they’re not allowed to share with anyone for any purpose other than the lawsuit,” he said.

Gregory said the records are part of the discovery phase of the lawsuit against UNC, and the lawsuit is under a partial stay until the U.S. Supreme Court case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin is resolved.

“(Giving this information) is just part of the legal process, and the agreement that was put in place so discovery could take place,” Gregory said.

Gregory said enrolled students do not have to worry about this lawsuit affecting their enrollment, but this could affect admissions decisions in the future.

First-year Hannah Morrow said she and her roommate were worried when they received their letters, but she didn’t think much of it.

“I had heard about the lawsuit,” Morrow said. “I figured it was something they had to send out because of potential legal issues they may run into.”

Sophomore Moriah Sharpe was glad the University notified her about releasing her information, but wasn’t worried about the lawsuit affecting her.

Sharpe said debates over college admissions and affirmative action made her think lawsuits like this were common.

“I feel like this is kind of something par for the course when you are an elite university, that there is going to be someone who says ‘I was discriminated against,’ but I am personally not worried about it affecting me, but I just think this is kind of something that is kind of to be expected,” Sharpe said.

Sharpe said the University’s decision to mail a letter instead of send an email also raised questions.

“I think maybe they’re trying not to make a big deal out of it, but I don’t think they’re really trying to hide it,” she said. “I do think the letter did let us know what is going on.”

She said she thought the way information was given to students might be questionable.

“I can see that kind of being perceived that they are trying to be on the down low, like so people don’t really hear that much about it because most people check their emails, but not a lot of people remember to check their mail that frequently,” Sharpe said.

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