…Not
that
much!
The
Court’s
decision
in
SFFA
v.
Harvard
raised
a
bunch
of
questions.
If
affirmative
action
is
so
injurious
to
the
14th
Amendment,
why
can
military
academies
still
use
it?
Aren’t
legacy
admissions
—
a
proxy
for
grandfathering
in
descendants
of
wealthy
white
alumni
—
just
as
onerous?
What
will
the
student
bodies
of
the
most
prestigious
law
schools
look
like
with
affirmative
action
gone?
The
answers
to
these
questions
are
not
yet
ripe.
That
said,
we
do
have
developments
worth
mulling
over
as
gestures
toward
what
the
answers
could
be:
Judge
Bennett
upholding
the
Navy’s
use
of
affirmative
action,
University
of
Pittsburgh,
Wesleyan
University,
Virginia
Tech,
and
others
have
gotten
rid
of
Legacy
Admissions, and,
what
will
be
the
focus
for
the
remainder
of
the
article,
diversity
in
law
school
enrollment
holding
steady.
Reuters
has
coverage:
Racial
and
ethnic
diversity
in
law
school
enrollment
did
not
decline
in
2024,
despite
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court’s
2023
ban
on
affirmative
action
in
college
admissions
and
fears
that
the
number
of
diverse
law
students
would
plummet
as
a
result.The
percentage
of
Black
and
Hispanic
students
in
the
current
first-year
juris
doctor
class
of
39,684
is
nearly
identical
to
2023
—
which
was
the
final
full
admissions
cycle
before
the
affirmative
action
ban
took
effect
—
according
to
data
released
on
Monday
by
the
American
Bar
Association.
The
percentage
of
Asian
first-year
students
increased
2
percentage
points
to
9.76%
compared
with
2023.
What
does
this
mean
for
the
future
of
racial
diversity
in
our
legal
landscape?
Ultimately,
it
is
too
early
to
tell.
Generalized
data
is
nice
and
all,
but
the
really
important
stuff
hinges
on
what’s
happening
at
the
prestige
heavy
schools.
One
big
name
outlier
is
Harvard
Law.
The
New
York
Times
reported
that
the
number
of
Black
students
at
Harvard
Law
immediately
plummeted
to
1960’s
numbers.
Since
1970,
Harvard
Law
has
admitted
around
50-70
Black
students
per
year.
This
year
they
admitted
19.
Other
high
prestige
schools
may
have
similar
drop-offs.
We
may
very
well
see
less
and
less
diversity
at
high
prestige
institutions
while
lower
ranked
schools
see
the
rejected
T14
candidates
as
discounted
ways
to
boost
the
overall
GPAs
and
test
scores
of
their
incoming
classes.
From
a
bird
eye’s
view
this
could
still
look
like
maintaining
or
even
increasing
diversity
in
the
student
body,
even
as
T14
schools
become
more
and
more
monocultural.
Put
simply,
it
looks
too
early
to
panic,
but
be
cautious
about
celebrating
too
soon.
A
full
breakdown
of
SFFA
v.
Harvard‘s
consequences
would
require
a
longitudinal
analysis
of
how
students
place
over
time.
Acceptance
is
an
important
data
point,
but
it
is
just
as
important
to
see
where
students
place
for
their
summers,
their
first
gigs
after
they
cross
the
stage
with
their
JDs,
who
gets
equity
partner
opposed
to
non-equity,
and
who
ultimately
ends
up
on
the
Supreme
Court.
In
the
meantime,
take
whatever
concrete
actions
you
can.
Keep
applying
to
your
dream
schools!
Put
nose
to
page
and
study
your
heart
out!
Oh.
And
prepare
for
the
spite
suits
arguing
that
proxies
for
diversity
are
the
culprit
for
this
year’s
numbers.
There’s
no
way
Blum
&
Co.
are
going
to
be
happy
with
the
overall
numbers
post-affirmative
action
lining
up
with
pre.
Law
Student
Diversity
Held
Steady
After
Affirmative
Action
Ban,
ABA
Says
[Reuters]
Earlier:
The
Trend
Of
Diverse
Law
School
Applications
Goes
Upward
The
Slippery
Slope
Of
Ending
Affirmative
Action
Has
Moved
On
To
Its
Next
Target:
Women
And
‘Proxies
For
Diversity’
ABA
Committee
Decides
To
Diversify
Diversity.
It
Should
Come
With
A
Clear
Reason
For
Why
That’s
Important.
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.