Last month, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that universities can use race in making admissions decisions. In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote that “student body diversity” at the modern university was “central to its identity and educational mission.”
He’s right. But it’s also fair to question how well universities are fulfilling this mission, especially in light of the protests that swept U.S. campuses last year. Over the past 30 years, universities have become vastly more diverse. But students of color continue to denounce them as insensitive, inhospitable and hostile to nonwhites.