In the wake of the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling against race-based college admissions, a bipartisan movement against legacy admissions is gaining momentum at the state and federal level as well.

Legacy admission refers to admitting a student to a school because his or her family attended that school.Virginia was introduced law Legacy admission will be prohibited on January 18th. law Congress was recommended to do so in November after the Supreme Court struck down race-based admissions in June. (Related: Donors of elite universities vow to withdraw funding, call for president to resign on diversity, equity and inclusion grounds)

Virginia's bill passed the state Senate unanimously, and the federal bill was bipartisan, authored by Sen. Todd Young, Republican of Indiana, and Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia.

A Virginia bill that would outlaw legacy admissions in the state was introduced in January by Democratic Virginia Sens. Schuyler VanValkenburgh and Jeremy McPike.of invoice It aims to outlaw admission to universities based on “family ties to donors.”

The bill states, “No public institution of higher education shall provide any form of preferential treatment in admissions decisions to applicants based on the student's heritage status or the student's familial relationship with donors to the institution.'' “You must not do so,” it says.

Kaine and Young's bill also plans to outlaw legacy admissions, but only at the federal level.

“Legacy admissions limits opportunities for many bright and talented young Americans and unfairly benefits the most connected in society. Our bill would eliminate traditional preferential treatment in the admissions process. and promote upward mobility for Americans of all backgrounds.” Young Said said in a November press release announcing the bill.

“A student's ability to get into a college should not depend on whether their parents attended that school or made large donations,” Cain said in a press release.

Approximately 56% of the top 250 universities in the United States used traditional admissions methods in their admissions process. according to In the Wall Street Journal.

The Connecticut General Assembly's education committee also plans to study traditional enrollment in the upcoming legislative session. according to To the Connecticut Miller.

Connecticut Congressman Gregory Haddad, co-chair of the Connecticut Higher Education and Employment Promotion Commission, said he believes fewer minorities will attend college due to a decline in race-based admissions.

“Prior to the Supreme Court's decision, Black and Hispanic high school students were already facing challenges that significantly reduced their chances of attending college, and the best they had to alleviate that gap.” We were taking tools away from universities. Things are only going to get more difficult,” Haddad told the Mirror. “So legacy admissions is one of the things we do.”

Haddad and others argue that legacy admissions unfairly benefits wealthy white applicants, but experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the practice is probably a result of so-called affirmative action. He said that there was no violation of civil rights law.

Application data for the 2023-2024 academic year shows that minority college applications have increased by 15% since 2022. according to Go to common apps.

“Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits racial discrimination. If a school uses traditional settings to exclude students based on race, then yes, it violates Title VI. I don't think many people use it that way. I think most people who say they talk about fundraising and community building mean it. But the Department of Education needs to be sure that each agency is using it to know for sure. We're going to need to take a closer look at how it's being used,” Alison Somin, a legal researcher at the public interest law firm Pacific Legal Foundation, told DCNF.

Giancarlo Canaparo, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Edwin Meese III Center for Law and Justice Research and another legal expert, said states could enact laws banning heritage sites.

“States are free to enact laws to regulate state schools and perhaps force private schools within state borders to abandon traditional enrollment,” Canaparo told DCNF.

But he said legacy admissions is unlikely to violate civil rights laws or the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause.

“Equal protection applies to what the Supreme Court called “protected classes,'' including race, sex, religion, and national origin. Traditional preferences do not fit into any of these groups,” Kanaparo continued.

Nicole Pearson, a California attorney, agreed that traditional admission likely would not violate civil rights laws.

“I can't imagine how traditional admission would violate civil rights,” Pearson told DCNF.

Harvard University expressed concern that eliminating traditional admissions would reduce “support” and “engagement” on campus. according to Go to the 2018 report.

“Alumni support Harvard for a variety of reasons, and the committee believes that this important commitment will no longer require consideration of whether an applicant’s parents attended Harvard or Radcliffe College. “We are concerned that the sense of support will be undermined,” the report said.

The Biden administration launched an investigation into Harvard's legacy admissions in July 2023, following the June 2023 Supreme Court ruling banning race-based admissions. Wesleyan University, like the University of Minnesota, voluntarily ended legacy enrollment in July 2023.

Mr. VanValkenburgh, Mr. McPike and Mr. Haddad did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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