Scholar suggests First Amendment argument for university affirmative action

Scholar Alexander Volokh of the Emery University School of Law, February 15, 2024, writes that the nation’s private universities have a strong First Amendment argument in defense of affirmative action. Given Boy Scouts of America v. Dale and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, Volokh finds that almost all of a university’s activities are pure speech so given a right against compelled speech and a commitment to diversity, “The university’s expressive-association right can include the ability to take race into account to create a university community with the desired amount or type of diversity.”

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