Regents of University of California v. Bakke

Affirmative action has been one of the most contested issues in U.S. higher education since the 1970s. A landmark case, Regents of University of California v. Bakke, not only defined the constitutional parameter of one form of affirmative action, race-conscious admissions practices, but also shaped the understanding of diversity. In this court case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 1978, Allan Bakke, a White male, brought suit against the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) Medical School.

Bakke sought legal action after being denied admission for two consecutive years in 1973 and 1974. Despite the fact that there were many differences that distinguished Bakke from his fellow applicants, such as the fact that he was a Vietnam veteran, Bakke contended that UC Davis’s ...