UNM responds to Supreme Court affirmative action ruling

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — On Thursday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled it is unconstitutional to consider race as a determining factor in college admissions.

President Joe Biden is urging colleges and universities to remain committed to diversity under new standards, and he is directing the Department of Education to analyze what practices can help build more diverse student bodies.

In a statement from UNM leadership, University President Garnett Stokes said she’s concerned with the precedent this sets for new efforts to stunt diversity and accessibility within colleges and universities.

We at @UNM are concerned about the precedent today's Supreme Court ruling sets for further efforts to curb diversity, accessibility, and social mobility within our institutions and impact access and opportunities for all underrepresented members of our communities. /1

— Garnett S. Stokes (@PresidentStokes) June 29, 2023

While the ruling does not entirely ban considering race in admissions, it no longer requires it.

UNM officials said this sends the wrong message to students.

“What message does that send to people who are looking at higher education,” said Cinnamon Blair, the chief marketing and communications officer at UNM. “We don’t want to dissuade anybody who might think, that it’s not for me, I don’t belong in higher ed.”

UNM reps also told KOB 4 its legal team is continuing to look at all of this to see if there are any legal implications in this ruling and any other possible effects it could have for the university and the students.