Virginia Advisory Committee

Current Topic

Compliance with Students for Fair Admissions at Virginia Public Universities

The Virginia Advisory Committee is examining compliance with Students for Fair Admissions at Virginia’s public universities, including any concerns related to discrimination based on race, color, age, disability, or other federally protected category and any denial of equal protection of the law in the administration of justice with the intention of identifying areas for improvement and developing recommendations accordingly. 

Broadly, the Committee is considering the following guiding questions:

1. Are Virginia state universities complying with Students for Fair Admissions?
2. Have Virginia state universities changed their admissions policies since Students for Fair Admissions?
3. Experts disagree on whether the relevant law (including Students for Fair Admissions itself) permits universities to use proxies for race in situations where the use of race itself would be forbidden. Are public universities in Virginia using such proxies for race? What do they understand the law to say about when the use of racial proxies is permissible?
4. Students for Fair Admissions states that universities may use essays in admissions in which applicants discuss how race has shaped their lives, so long as the use of essays is not simply an effort to revive race preferential admissions by another name. How do Virginia public universities use essays that discuss race in admissions? What do they understand the law to be concerning essays that discuss race in admissions?
5. Have the racial demographics of Virginia state universities changed since Students for Fair Admissions? If so, how?

The Committee is in the process of hosting public briefings on this topic.