The Supreme Court began hearing the case Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action one month ago. The issue revolves around whether or not states are constitutionally allowed to ban racial preferences in the admissions procedures within universities; proponents believe that affirmative action serves as a form of discrimination in itself, while opponents supporting affirmative action claim such a ban violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because it would disadvantage minority groups and threaten racial diversity within colleges.

Senior Zac Schleich said he supports this ban due to his belief that admission into college should be solely based on merit.

“I feel that (a ban) would be valid because what race you are shouldn’t have any impact on what colleges accept you or not,” Schleich said. “They should accept you (based) on who you are as a student and as a person on what you are able to do and not what your background is.”

However, Linda Christy, College Counselor and former Associate Director of Admissions in Indiana University and DePauw University, said although colleges will become more aware of the issue of racial diversity, some already do not make it a significant factor in the admission process.

“There’s the question out there from some minority students of whether or not they have an advantage of admission because they may be Hispanic or African-American… and I can say with 100 percent certainty when I reviewed an application, I did not look at race. Students were admitted based on their ability to succeed in college,” Christy said. “Whether (applicants) are black, white, Hispanic or Asian; that’s not going to matter when it comes to admission. It’s going to matter more that they’re going to be able to complete their work in college and be successful.”