Opinion of the Court
an institution of higher education.” Id., at 311–312. And that was so, he opined, because a university was entitled as a matter of academic freedom “to make its own judgments as to … the selection of its student body.” Id., at 312.
But a university’s freedom was not unlimited. “Racial and ethnic distinctions of any sort are inherently suspect,” Justice Powell explained, and antipathy toward them was deeply “rooted in our Nation’s constitutional and demographic history.” Id., at 291. A university could not employ a quota system, for example, reserving “a specified number of seats in each class for individuals from the preferred ethnic groups.” Id., at 315. Nor could it impose a “multitrack program with a prescribed number of seats set aside for each identifiable category of applicants.” Ibid. And neither still could it use race to foreclose an individual “from all consideration … simply because he was not the right color.” Id., at 318.
The role of race had to be cabined. It could operate only as “a ‘plus’ in a particular applicant’s file.” Id., at 317. And even then, race was to be weighed in a manner “flexible enough to consider all pertinent elements of diversity in light of the particular qualifications of each applicant.” Ibid. Justice Powell derived this approach from what he called the “illuminating example” of the admissions system then used by Harvard College. Id., at 316. Under that system, as described by Harvard in a brief it had filed with the Court, “the race of an applicant may tip the balance in his favor just as geographic origin or a life [experience] may tip the balance in other candidates’ cases.” Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted). Harvard continued: “A farm boy from Idaho can bring something to Harvard College that a Bostonian cannot offer. Similarly, a black student can usually bring something that a white person cannot offer.” Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted). The result, Harvard proclaimed, was that “race has been”—and should be—“a factor in some admission decisions.” Ibid. (internal
