Now is the Time: Class-Based Affirmative Action in the 21st Century

Authors

Evan F. Jaffe

Abstract

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note highlights the key affirmative action cases leading up to Fisher I. Part II of this Note focuses on Fisher I and the Fifth Circuit’s dicta in Fisher II about the unsolved arena of class-based affirmative action. Part III of this Note details how race-based affirmative action does not capture a critical mass of economic and racial diversity in higher education. Part IV of this Note argues that class-based affirmative action will bolster economic and racial diversity in higher education by focusing more on class characteristics in the holistic review process. This change will capture not only high achieving poor students, but high achieving poor minority students, thus attaining the original goals of affirmative action and fostering a richer collegiate experience for the future leaders of America.