The case began when Allan Bakke, a white applicant, was twice rejected from the UC Davis Medical School. The school had a "special admissions program" that reserved 16 out of 100 seats specifically for minority applicants. Bakke argued this violated the of the 14th Amendment.
However, the legal landscape has shifted dramatically. With the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in , the "essential architecture" established by Bakke has been largely dismantled. What was the Bakke Decision? bakke decision
For decades, the standard for diversity in higher education was set by a single, fractured Supreme Court ruling: . It was the case that simultaneously saved and restricted affirmative action, creating a legal tightrope that universities walked for 45 years. The case began when Allan Bakke, a white
The End of an Era: Unpacking the Bakke Decision and What Comes Next However, the legal landscape has shifted dramatically