Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago
This panel examines the legal, political, and rhetorical landscape of race in education following the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and UNC. The papers explore the narrowing pathways for diversity in higher education, the complexities of Asian American positioning and anti-Asian animus in admissions controversies, and the Court’s erasure of racial categories in its reasoning. Panelists also analyze how conservative advocates have hijacked terms like “diversity” and “equality” to recast racial justice as discrimination against whites. Together, the presentations reveal how SFFA reshapes the terrain of equal protection while offering strategies to resist reactionary narratives and to reimagine diversity doctrines and concepts as a tool for multiracial solidarity and racial justice.
•Ruben J. Garcia, Ralph Denton Professor of Law, William S. Boyd School of Law, UNLV, UCLA Law JD ‘96, Non-Racial Off-Ramps and Dead-Ends: Obstacle Narratives After SFFA
•Vinay Harpalani, Don L. & Mabel F. Dickason Endowed Chair in Law, the University of New Mexico School of Law, Anti-Asian Animus and Elite Admissions Controversies
•Rachel F. Moran, Professor of Law and Director of the Education Law Program, Texas A&M University School of Law,
How Race Became Illegible
•Susan Tanner, Associate Professor of Law, University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law, Hijacked Ideographs: Reclaiming “Diversity” and “Affirmative Action” from Reactionary Rhetoric
•Moderator: • Cheryl I. Harris, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Professor in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, UCLA School of Law
This panel examines the legal, political, and rhetorical landscape of race in education following the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and UNC. The papers explore the narrowing pathways for diversity in higher education, the complexities of Asian American positioning and anti-Asian animus in admissions controversies, and the Court’s erasure of racial categories in its reasoning. Panelists also analyze how conservative advocates have hijacked terms like “diversity” and “equality” to recast racial justice as discrimination against whites. Together, the presentations reveal how SFFA reshapes the terrain of equal protection while offering strategies to resist reactionary narratives and to reimagine diversity doctrines and concepts as a tool for multiracial solidarity and racial justice.
•Ruben J. Garcia, Ralph Denton Professor of Law, William S. Boyd School of Law, UNLV, UCLA Law JD ‘96, Non-Racial Off-Ramps and Dead-Ends: Obstacle Narratives After SFFA
•Vinay Harpalani, Don L. & Mabel F. Dickason Endowed Chair in Law, the University of New Mexico School of Law, Anti-Asian Animus and Elite Admissions Controversies
•Rachel F. Moran, Professor of Law and Director of the Education Law Program, Texas A&M University School of Law,
How Race Became Illegible
•Susan Tanner, Associate Professor of Law, University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law, Hijacked Ideographs: Reclaiming “Diversity” and “Affirmative Action” from Reactionary Rhetoric
•Moderator: • Cheryl I. Harris, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Professor in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, UCLA School of Law
