University of Texas at Austin

“ I see around me, widespread and beautiful, the free State of Texas. Below me, clad in flowers and bathed in mellow light, lies Austin. Crowning the hills, on which fifty years ago the Red Man dwelt in his wigwams and hunting-lodges, are stately government buildings, mansions, and churches. The enclosing gardens, rich in the herbs and blossoms of a semi-tropical region, are fair under the over-arching blue sky. In their midst, crowning its own hill-tops, stands the University planned by the Republic in 1839. ”

“ The University presents no evidence that its admissions officers, in administering the “holistic” component of its plan, make any effort to determine whether an African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American student is likely to enroll in classes in which minority students are underrepresented. And although UT’s records should permit it to determine without much difficulty whether holistic admittees are any more likely than students admitted through the Top Ten Percent Law, Tex. ”

“ As its name suggests, the Top Ten Percent Law guarantees college admission to students who gradu­ate from a Texas high school in the top 10 percent of their class. Those students may choose to attend any of the public universities in the State.
The University implemented the Top Ten Percent Law in 1998. After first admitting any student who qualified for admission under that law, the University filled the remainder of its incoming freshman class using a combi­nation of an applicant’s AI and PAI scores—again, without considering race. ”

“ The fact that UT’s racial preferences are unnecessary to achieve its stated goals is further demonstrated by their minimal effect on UT’s diversity. In 2004, when race was not a factor, 3.6% of non-Top Ten Percent Texas enrollees were African-American and 11.6% were Hispanic. See Supp. App. 157a. It would stand to reason that at least the same percentages of African-American and Hispanic students would have been admitted through holistic re­view in 2008 even if race were not a factor. ”

“ The Equal Protection Clause does not provide a 3-year grace period for racial discrimination. Under strict scrutiny, UT was required to identify evidence that race-based admissions were necessary to achieve a compelling interest before it put them in place — not three or more years after. See ante, at 13–14 ("Petitioner is correct that a university bears a heavy burden in showing that it had not obtained the educational benefits of diversity before it turned to a race-conscious plan" (emphasis added) ) ”

“ Tr. of Oral Arg. 6-7. ' (A) t the University of Texas at Austin alone,' counsel told us, 'there are 40,000 students, and over 7,000 employees on a 265-acre campus. When you include all the other campuses and institutions, I'm hard put to say how many people are involved; but many, many thousands.' Id., at 10.↑ See n. 1, supra.↑ That a 'statewide concern' sufficient to require a three-judge court is present is evidenced by Alabama State Teachers Assn. ”

“ The study further suggested that only 21% of these classes had two or more African Americans, 67% had two or more Asian-Americans, and 70% had two or more Hispanics. See ibid. Based on this study, UT concluded that it had a “compelling educational interest” in employing racial preferences to ensure that it did not “have large numbers of classes in which there are no students—or only a single student—of a given un­derrepresented race or ethnicity.” Id., at 25a.
UT now equivocates, disclaiming any discrete interest in classroom diversity. ”

“ Finally, it seems clear that the lack of classroom diversity is attributable in good part to factors other than the representation of the favored groups in the UT student population. UT offers an enormous number of classes in a wide range of subjects, and it gives undergraduates a very large measure of freedom to choose their classes. UT also offers courses in subjects that are likely to have special appeal to members of the minority groups given preferen­tial treatment under its challenged plan, and this of course diminishes the number of other courses in which these students can enroll. ”

“ According to UT, a critical mass is neither some absolute number of African-American or Hispanic students nor the percentage of African-Americans or Hispanics in the general population of the State. The term remains undefined, but UT tells us that it will let the courts know when the desired end has been achieved. ”

“ And UT initially justified its race-conscious plan at least in part on the ground that “significant differences between the racial and ethnic makeup of the University’s under­graduate population and the state’s population prevent the University from fully achieving its mission.” Supp. App. 24a; see also id., at 16a (“ [A] critical mass in Texas is necessarily larger than a critical mass in Michigan,” be­ cause “ [a] majority of the college-age population in Texas is African American or Hispanic”) ”

“ The University has thus met its burden of showing that the admissions policy it used at the time it rejected petitioner’s application was narrowly tailored.
* * *
A university is in large part defined by those intangible “qualities which are incapable of objective measurement but which make for greatness.” Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U. S. 629, 634 (1950) . Considerable deference is owed to a university in defining those intangible characteristics, like student body diversity, that are central to its identity and educational mission. ”

“ On the other hand, asserting an interest in the educa­tional benefits of diversity writ large is insufficient. A university’s goals cannot be elusory or amorphous—they must be sufficiently measurable to permit judicial scrutiny of the policies adopted to reach them.
The record reveals that in first setting forth its current admissions policy, the University articulated concrete and precise goals. ”

“ UT claims, “African-American and Hispanic holistic admits have higher SAT scores than their Top 10% counterparts.” Brief for Respondents 43, n. 8. As a result, UT argues that it needs race-conscious admissions to enroll academically superior minority students with higher SAT scores. Regrettably, the majority seems to embrace this argument as well. See ante, at 16 (“ [T] he Equal Protection Clause does not force universities to choose between a diverse student body and a reputation for academic excellence”) . ”

“ App. 445a–446a, because Hispanics, but not Asian-Americans, are underrepresented at UT when compared to the demographics of the State. [2]
On the other hand, UT’s counsel asserted that the criti­cal mass for the University is “not at all” dependent on the demographics of Texas, and that UT’s “concept [of] critical mass isn’t tied to demographic [s] .” Tr. of Oral Arg. 40, 49 (Oct. 10, 2012) . And UT’s Fisher I brief expressly agreed that “a university cannot look to racial demographics— and then work backward in its admissions process to meet a target tied to such demographics.” ”

“ For instance, because UT knows which students were admitted through the Top Ten Percent Plan and which were not, as well as which students enrolled in which classes, it would seem relatively easy to determine whether Top Ten Percent students were more or less likely than holistic admittees to enroll in the types of classes where diversity was lacking. ”

“ Under this longstanding, secret process, university officials regularly overrode normal holistic review to allow politically connected individuals—such as donors, alumni, legislators, members of the Board of Re­gents, and UT officials and faculty—to get family members and other friends admitted to UT, despite having grades and standardized test scores substantially below the median for admitted students. ”

“ And unless the University is engaged in unconstitutional racial bal­ancing based on Texas demographics (where Hispanics outnumber Asian-Americans) , see Part II–C–1, supra, it seemingly views the classroom contributions of Asian-American students as less valuable than those of Hispanic students. In UT’s view, apparently, “Asian Americans are not worth as much as Hispanics in promoting ‘cross-racial understanding,’ breaking down ‘racial stereotypes,’ and enabling students to ‘better understand persons of differ­ent races.’ ” Brief for Asian American Legal Foundation et al. ”

“ This argument fails for a number of reasons. First, it is simply not true that Top Ten Percent minority admittees are academically inferior to holistic admittees. In fact, as UT’s president explained in 2000, “top 10 percent high school students make much higher grades in college than non-top 10 percent students,” and “ [s] trong academic performance in high school is an even better predictor of success in college than standardized test scores.” ”

“ UT never explains why the Hispanic students—but not the Asian-American students—are isolated and lonely enough to receive an admissions boost, notwithstanding the fact that there are more Hispanics than Asian-Americans in the student population. ”

“ Three years ago, when the State University was built, it was decided that it should be coëducational, and young women are now being educated there side by side with young men. Texas has many liberal men and women. It is generally remarked that the women of the State are better educated than the men.
Miss Julia Pease, a Vassar graduate and daughter of the late ex-Governor Pease, has charge of 6,000 acres of land. She lives in the family mansion at Austin with her mother, and in addition to her other duties superintends the education of the three children of her deceased sisters. ”

“ A court cannot ensure that an admissions process is narrowly tailored if it cannot pin down the goals that the process is designed to achieve. UT’s vague policy goals are “so broad and imprecise that they cannot withstand strict scrutiny.” ”

“ In response to Hopwood, beginning with the 1997 admissions cycle, UT instituted a “holistic review” process in which it considered an applicant’s AI as well as a Per­ sonal Achievement Index (PAI) that was intended, among other things, to increase minority enrollment. The raceneutral PAI was a composite of scores from two essays and a personal achievement score, which in turn was based on a holistic review of an applicant’s leadership qualities, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, work expe­ rience, community service, and special circumstances. ”

“ Under the University’s race-conscious holistic review, 58 African-American fresh­ men from Texas and 158 Hispanic freshmen from Texas were enrolled in 2008, thus reflecting an increase of only 15 African-American stu­dents and 18 Hispanic students. ”

“ By contrast, 37.6% of Texas’s 2010 population identi­fied as Hispanic or Latino, but a lower percentage—19.9%—of UT’s enrolled, first-time freshmen in 2008 were Hispanic. See Supp. App. 156a; QuickFacts Texas. ↑ If UT’s goal is to have at least two African-Americans, two Hispanics, and two Asian-Americans present in each of the relevant class­ rooms, that goal is literally unreachable in classes of five and practically unreachable in many other small classes. ”

“ With the exception of special numbers, any bulletin will be sent to a citizen of Texas free on request. All communications about University publications should be addressed to University Publications, University of Texas, Austin. ”

“ An American pioneer and politician, known as the founder of the State of Texas. He was born in Wythe County, Va., the son of Moses Austin, who originally, from Connecticut, projected the Texan colony which was finally established in 1821 by his son, on the site of the present city of Austin. The latter, by his energy, ability, and hardihood, made the experiment a success; and other colonists settled in the vicinity, until the Americans became so numerous that they held a convention in March, 1833, to form a separate State government. ”

“ On the west is the city of Austin, with its spires and busy streets, and from the upper part of the building, looking northward, appear the far-extending prairies, so familiar in Texas, while, almost encircling the whole, rise hills and mountains, making this a most beautiful and picturesque spot, and of all others fitted for an institution of learning, where the student, while treasuring up knowledge, may have before him that which shall awaken a sense of the beautiful and the grand, leading him from nature to nature’s God. ”

“ Already we have received the written indorsement of seventy-six of the leading citizens of Austin, saying, “We believe that such a school is very much needed, and that the enterprise will be hailed by very many of our best citizens as of great importance to the welfare of the State.” Texas has a territory larger than France, and constitutes no mean part of “the whole world” where we are commanded to go and teach. Will our friends aid us to go up at once and possess the land?
WHO SHALL CIVILIZE AFRICA? ”

“ But in the year '33 occurred Santa Anna's defection from the liberal party, and the imprisonment of Stephen F. Austin, the Texian representative in the Mexican congress, by the vice-president, Gomez Farias. This was followed by Texas adopting the constitution of 1824, and declaring itself an independent state of the Mexican republic. Finally, towards the close of 1835 Texas threw off the Mexican yoke altogether, voted itself a free and sovereign republic, and prepared to defend by arms its newly asserted liberty. ”

“ Pop. (1890) 14,575; (1900) 22,258, of whom 5822 were negroes; (1910 census) 29,860. Austin is served by the Houston & Texas Central, the International & Great Northern, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railways. The city is built on high bluffs 40-120 ft. above the river, which is spanned here by a bridge, built in 1874. The Texas State Capitol, a handsome building of red Texas granite, with a dome 318 ft. high, cost more than $3,500,000, and stands in a square in the centre of the city. It was built (1881-1888) by Chicago capitalists in exchange for a land grant of 3,000,000 acres. ”