The Supreme Court's ruling marks a significant shift from previous decisions upholding race-conscious college admissions programs. With the addition of three justices appointed by Donald Trump, the court's conservative majority expressed doubts about the practice during arguments in October.
Former US President Barack Obama spoke out strongly against the Supreme Court's decision to ban the use of race and ethnicity in university admissions, saying that affirmative action policies had "allowed generations of students" who have been "systematically excluded" to show that they deserved a seat at the table.
"Affirmative action was never a complete answer in the drive towards a more just society. But for generations of students who had been systematically excluded from most of America’s key institutions—it gave us the chance to show we more than deserved a seat at the table," he said.
The court's conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively.
Chief Justice John Roberts said that for too long universities have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual's identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the colour of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
"In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, it’s time to redouble our efforts," Obama further wrote on social media.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama in a separate statement said that countless students, including her, felt like they belonged because of affirmative action.
"My heart breaks for any young person out there who's wondering what their future holds - and what kinds of chances will be open to them," she said.
"And while I know the strength and grit that lies inside kids who have always had to sweat a little more to climb the same ladders, I hope and I pray that the rest of us are willing to sweat a little, too," she added. "Today is a reminder that we've got to do the work not just to enact policies that reflect our values of equity and fairness, but to truly make those values real in all of our schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods," she said.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”
In a separate dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — the court's first Black female justice — called the decision “truly a tragedy for us all.”
President Joe Biden "strongly" disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision. "The odds have been stacked against working people for too long – we cannot let today's Supreme Court decision effectively ending affirmative action in higher education take us backwards. We can and must do better," said.
Former President Donald Trump however, claimed that the decision to strike down the policy will enable the US to "compete with the rest of the world".
"This is the ruling everyone was waiting and hoping for and the result was amazing. It will also keep us competitive with the rest of the world," he wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Our greatest minds must be cherished and that's what this wonderful day has brought. We're going back to all merit-based -- and that's the way it should be!"
The Supreme Court had twice upheld race-conscious college admissions programs in the past 20 years, including as recently as 2016. But that was before the three appointees of former President Donald Trump joined the court.
At arguments in late October, all six conservative justices expressed doubts about the practice, which had been upheld under Supreme Court decisions reaching back to 1978.