While I wouldn't presume to read the Chief Justice's mind, his statement about personal essays looks to me very much like preemption of an argument that a dissenter had raised in conference, something along the lines of, "So you're saying that colleges won't be allowed to pay attention to what minority students say about their lived experiences." To which Justice Roberts responds that they of course may write about how those experiences have been inspirations or obstacles. He does not say that what they write is entitled to special weight just because it is about race rather than, say, the self-confidence that a shy youngster gained from starring on the school debate team or the lessons in life that he learned from his grandfather.
Thanks for this comment. I think you're probably right about what the Chief Justice had in mind.
My concern is that colleges will give special weight to essays about race and it will take years of litigation to challenge this, with uncertain results.
While I wouldn't presume to read the Chief Justice's mind, his statement about personal essays looks to me very much like preemption of an argument that a dissenter had raised in conference, something along the lines of, "So you're saying that colleges won't be allowed to pay attention to what minority students say about their lived experiences." To which Justice Roberts responds that they of course may write about how those experiences have been inspirations or obstacles. He does not say that what they write is entitled to special weight just because it is about race rather than, say, the self-confidence that a shy youngster gained from starring on the school debate team or the lessons in life that he learned from his grandfather.
Thanks for this comment. I think you're probably right about what the Chief Justice had in mind.
My concern is that colleges will give special weight to essays about race and it will take years of litigation to challenge this, with uncertain results.