Cooper, advocacy group, corporations file briefs in support of UNC's admissions policies in US Supreme Court case

North Carolina’s top executive office holder, a state advocacy group and dozens of corporations are among the latest to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to support UNC-Chapel Hill’s admission policies in a case over race-conscious admissions.

The North Carolina Justice Center said Wednesday that it had filed a merits brief to urge the high court to uphold the university’s practice of considering race in the admissions process. The nonprofit advocacy group filed the 68-page brief on July 25 along with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Relman Colfax.

“UNC’s holistic race-conscious admissions process is critical to ensuring all students learn in an atmosphere of well rounded, talented students who represent a broad range of experiences and viewpoints,” the Justice Center said in its brief.

It’s among several recent filings in support of the university in the case, which has been ongoing for almost eight years. In November 2014, the nonprofit Students for Fair Admissions sued UNC, arguing that the university’s admission process unconstitutionally discriminates against white and Asian American applicants.

A federal district court ruled that the university’s practices complied with federal law. The decision was appealed by Students for Fair Admissions and the case has since been taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Oct. 31. Students for Fair Admissions also filed a similar, but separate lawsuit against Harvard University.

A representative of Students for Fair Admissions didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

UNC, which declined to comment, has argued that a diverse student body prepares students for a diverse marketplace.

On Monday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced that he and nine Democrats who currently or previously served as governors, filed a 30-page friend-of-the-court brief in support of UNC’s admissions standards. They argue that race-conscious admissions help create diverse public servants and leaders in state and local governments.

“Southern States have a particular and painful history of discrimination against racial minorities,” Cooper and other supporters in the brief wrote. They urged the court not to adopt “a rule that would seriously disrupt Southern States’ ongoing efforts to reduce educational inequality.”

“Careful consideration of race as one factor in an individualized assessment of a college applicant is not discrimination,” they added.

Former North Carolina Govs. Mike Easley, Bev Perdue and Jim Hunt joined the brief. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and former Govs. Jim Hodges and Richard Riley of South Carolina; Ray Mabus of Mississippi; Roy Barnes of Georgia; and Terry McAuliffe of Virginia also joined.

Dozens of corporations and business groups have also filed amicus briefs in support of race-conscious admissions practices.

“The outpouring of support from organizations and individuals from North Carolina and across the United States demonstrates the importance of holistic, race-conscious admissions programs in promoting diversity across many different sectors of our society,” Sarah Laws, a civil rights fellow at the North Carolina Justice Center, said in a statement.