Here's what these Indian-Americans opine on US top court's decision to ban race-based university admissions

Washington DC [US], June 30 : United States (US) Supreme Court ruling is a step towards equality and all applicants will be under the same umbrella, said an Indian-American while reacting to the Court's decision to nullify race-based admission programs.

On Thursday, the US Supreme Court struck down race-based admission programs at the University of Harvard and the University of North Carolina, reported The Washington Post.

Avant Kothari, an Indian-American from New Jersey supported the Supreme Court's verdict. "Everyone works hard to attend a school where they can thrive regardless of race. All students go into college with their dreams and aspirations. If certain schools, especially the highly-competitive ones, have quotas and different standards for certain races, it makes the entire process of college admissions unfair. I believe that college admissions should be based on the experience, the character/personality a person brings to a school, and the drive to succeed," he said.

Avant further said that it is a step towards justice. He added, "I am not saying race should be neglected but solely using race for college admissions is unjust. Many people argue that this Supreme Court ruling is a roadblock toward racial justice, but I strongly believe it is a step towards equality. Now, all applicants will be under the same umbrella where bias will not exist."

"This ruling affects the corporate world," Avant said adding, "I believe, if colleges are required to adopt a new system as such, corporate America won't take long to follow and implement the same."

Another Indian-American who is a senior at Stanton College Prep High School from Jacksonville, Florida, expressed relief and said that colleges can no longer discriminate against me and millions of other Indians and Asians for their race. "We will simply be admitted based on our merit and abilities and what we can provide for the college. Now the playing field has been levelled. This is one of the best things that has happened for equality in modern American history."

The decision came amid reports of the university's policies discriminating against White and Asian applicants by giving preference to Black, Hispanic and Native American ones.

With respect to the verdict, Former President and 2024 contender Donald Trump backed the SC ruling, calling it a "great day" for the nation, adding that it will "keep us competitive with the rest of the world".

Meanwhile, some of the Indian-Americans were against the US Supreme Court's decision for overturning race-based college admissions.

Ashita Datta, a graduate of the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action.

"It opened my eyes to worldwide innovation, where students from different backgrounds bring unique ideas and perspectives to create better future classes, such as international human rights, wealth and poverty," she said.

Datta further said that it would be unjust to discount rates and simultaneously reward privilege. "Wealthy, privileged, and legacy students benefit from multiple resources, allowing them to score higher on standardized exams and present more enticing resumes."

Adding to that, she suggested that as affirmative action continues to be in dispute, we should focus on increasing diversity within the admissions team.

In a self-recorded video, Dhananjay Goyal, another Indian-American who just finished his Master's in Business Administration at Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, said that he would be personally in support of any solution which helps us move towards greater forms of justice as a society, helps compensate for past wrongdoings, as well as brings in elements into the classroom which help us, as students learn better.

One of the primary purposes of schools and universities and colleges is to build or help us build more just societies. "Any actions that help build more just societies more equitable, equal societies, are the actions that we should aspire to take," he added.

He shared his opinion on the verdict and said, "It offers a compensatory solution towards past injustices, a corrective solution for differences in educational backgrounds, as well as a diversity-based solution in which even I have benefited tremendously from my classmates and peers who bring their own diversity and a plethora of their background to the classroom."

Dhananjay further said that he supports what Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania have said that we must work towards being race-conscious, as well as focus more towards building classrooms which benefit from this diversity.

Moreover, US President Joe Biden strongly disagreed with the US Supreme Court decision and mentioned, "The Court has effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions. And I strongly, strongly disagree with the Court's decision."

Adding to that, US Vice President Kamala Harris also stood against the Supreme Court's decision. She said that the decision to end "affirmative action" in college admissions is "a denial of opportunity". "It is being blind to history, blind to empirical evidence about disparities, and blind to the strength that diversity brings to classrooms, to boardrooms."