Bakke decision

Cultural  

1. An important ruling on affirmative action given by the Supreme Court in 1978. Allan Bakke, a white man, was denied admission to a medical school that had admitted black candidates with weaker academic credentials. Bakke contended that he was a victim of racial discrimination. The Court ruled that Bakke had been illegally denied admission to the medical school, but also that medical schools were entitled to consider race as a factor in admissions. The Court thus upheld the general principle of affirmative action.

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Example Sentences

Nixon appointee Lewis F. Powell Jr. did so in the 1978 Bakke decision.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2025

Bollinger in 2003, O’Connor took note of the quarter-century that had passed since the Bakke decision.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 13, 2021

In 1978, the Bakke decision introduced the notion of “diversity” as a competing rationale for affirmative action to “equity.”

From Slate • Jun. 27, 2016

Larry McDonald then stepped up and brought affirmative action, which had been upheld in the Supreme Court’s 1978 Bakke decision, into the discussion.

From Salon • Jan. 19, 2014

Eleanor Holmes Norton, head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, confidently asserted last week that the Bakke decision would make no difference in the effort to achieve hiring and promotion goals.

From Time Magazine Archive