Bakke .Vs. University of California

Bakke Vs the University of California at Davis is a very popular landmark case that stirred up much controversy during it's time; I do agree with the decision made in this case. Basically Allan Bakke, a caucasian student, applied to the University of California's medical program, and was denied twice simply because of his race.

Apparently the university had reserved 16% of its seats specifically for minority students (African American, Native American, Asian etc) and because these seats were already reserved, Bakke was denied entrance even though his grades and test scores proved to be significantly higher than those in the minority. When this policy was put into place, the university believed that it was offering equal opportunities to all races, however Bakke did not; he sued the school for violating his 14th amendment right to equal protection.

For a class assignment, we were required to argue in favor of Bakke based off of a specific reason; I will be arguing in favor of Bakke due to precedence. The decision that the school made to defer Bakke is no different than the decision that caused Murray V Maryland when a Black student was rejected from a university. The courts have already deemed it unconstitutional to deprive a student of their education simply because of their race; therefore, the school should have known better than to reserve seats specifically for minorities, regardless of their qualifications. The school should not have to be aware of your race or religion when applying, only the qualifications, skills and education you have acquired already.

In the end, the Supreme Court decided that it was constitutional for schools to look at minority issues in certain cases, but that the students academic data should be viewed and considered before any rigid quotas. However, this was after the state court ruled the entire system unconstitutional and the case was appealed.https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_regents.html

This link can be used to read more on the case