Case Updates
A brief look at the case’s history and upcoming developments
2014
November 17, 2014: Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts accusing Harvard of unlawful bias in its admissions process
2015
July 06, 2015: Harvard filed a motion in court to halt the case until the Supreme Court of the United States clarified the relevant law in Fisher v. University of Texas (2013).
2016
June 23, 2016: The Supreme Court of the United States decided Fisher v. The University of Texas (2016), clarifying the relevant law and resuming Harvard and SFFA’s case.
2018
August 03, 2018: Harvard student and alumni organizations filed an amicus brief in support of holistic college admissions
October 15, 2018: The trial began in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, with LDF delivering opening statements in support of race conscious admissions
October 29, 2018: Eight Harvard students and alumni testified in support of race-conscious admissions policies
November 2, 2018: The trial ended, with LDF delivering closing statements
2019
February 13, 2019: LDF delivered post-trial arguments at the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
September 30, 2019: The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts court upheld Harvard’s holistic admissions policy
October 04, 2019: SFFA filed its notice of appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Picture via Jane Sujen Bock
2020
February 08, 2020: SFFA filed its opening brief in the First Circuit Court of Appeals
February 25, 2020 : Amici curiae filed their briefs in support of SFFA in the First Circuit Court of Appeals
May 14, 2020: Harvard’s brief filed in the First Circuit Court of Appeals
May 21, 2020 : Amici curiae briefs in support of Harvard filed in the First Circuit Court of Appeals
June 04, 2020: SFFA’s reply due in the First Circuit Court of Appeals
November 11, 2020: The First Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of Harvard’s holistic admissions program.
2022
January 24, 2022: Supreme Court of the United States grants certiorari in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. '
July 25, 2022: 25 Harvard Student and Alumni Organizations file an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard asking the Court to uphold over 40 years of precedent holding that it is legally permissible to consider race as one of many factors in admissions to higher education.
October 3, 2022 On October 31, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases SFFA)= v. Harvard and SFFA v. University of North Carolina (UNC).
2023
June 23, 2023: The Supreme Court issued its ruling in SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC, finding that Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.