During the 2023 National Lawyers Convention breakout panel titled SFFA and Beyond, I announced that my organization, the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO), had launched a new initiative called the After Affirmative Action (AAA) Network. The AAA Network follows up on the success of petitioners in the Harvard and North Carolina Supreme Court cases to eliminate the use of race in college and university admissions.

The AAA Network will serve as a clearinghouse to gather and distribute information on how schools are, or are not, changing their admissions practices in the wake of the Supreme Court’s prohibition on race-based affirmative action. Numerous press reports—including here and here—have indicated schools are preparing to evade the decision. The Biden administration also published guidance shortly after the rulings to aid schools in continuing to racially diversify their student bodies.

The principal goal of the AAA Network is to ensure compliance with the new state of the law. For example, the information gathered from this initiative may lead to media interest, litigation efforts, or governmental investigations. Part of the information gathering effort will involve freedom of information law requests. However, a substantial portion of the effort will be sourcing tips from individuals with insider knowledge.

Thus, CEO invites participation in the project from faculty, administrators, students, alumni, and other interested parties across the country who can share information on admissions changes at their schools. A submission form has also been created where supporters can share information with the AAA Network anonymously. CEO will provide journalists, lawmakers, litigators, and others access to this information through periodic briefings and by sharing open records request findings and analyses.

While nothing is guaranteed in an effort of this nature, the mere establishment of a project to monitor college and university activities after the landmark Supreme Court decision sends a powerful message. The AAA Network recognizes that the battle to ensure colorblind equal opportunity and equality under law for all is far from over. It has merely entered a new front.

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