Our team at YWCA South Hampton Roads is disappointed in the Supreme Court’s ruling to end Affirmative Action. For decades, Affirmative Action in universities paved the way to right the wrongs of exclusion and segregation. It broke down barriers of disenfranchisement and allowed Black and POC students an equitable opportunity for their academic endeavors. This ruling is a blatant disregard for diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism and could hinder colleges and universities across the country. Our hope is that educational institutions will not use this ruling to regress, but will become more resilient, innovative, and dedicated to championing equity and diversity in their admissions process. Despite this upsetting decision, YWCA South Hampton Roads will continue to do as it has always done in the face of adversity, we will fight. We will fight for students, justice, and equity.
As a community, we invite you to join the conversation TONIGHT at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT for the Affirmative Action Decision Day Roundtable.
From the African American Policy Forum’s Executive Director, Kimberlé Crenshaw:
“To make sense of today’s developments and to chart the course ahead, the African American Policy Forum will be hosting a rapid response virtual Freedom to Learn Homeroom and Under the Black Light: Affirmative Action Decision Roundtable tonight at 7pm ET. There will be a panel of leading lawyers, scholars, activists and thought leaders to offer a critical assessment of the decisions made in the Affirmative Action cases SFFA v. UNC Chapel-Hill and SFFA v. Harvard and what’s next for us.”
The following will be joining the Roundtable tonight:
Luke Harris – Co-founder and Deputy Director of the African American Policy Forum and Professor at Vassar College
Damon Hewitt – Executive Director of Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Janai Nelson – President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Mark Rosenbaum – Director of the Public Counsel Opportunity Under Law and Professor of Law at University of California Irvine Law School
Janelle Wong – Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of Maryland
Click here to register for the Affirmative Action Day Roundtable.