Clockwise, from top left: Amalia Daché, James Norman, Christina Huang, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Yiatin Chu and Caroline Bohanon.
Photographers: Michelle Gustafson, Marissa Leshnov, Lila Barth and Bridget Bennett for Bloomberg BusinessweekRace-Based Affirmative Action Is Over. Corporate Diversity Could Be Next
The Supreme Court’s imminent ruling will directly affect only colleges, but companies will feel the consequences, too.
By the end of June, legal experts predict, the US Supreme Court will ban race-based admissions in higher education. It will be a concussive, though not fatal, blow to affirmative action’s corporate cousin: diversity, equity and inclusion.
The decision comes as companies are already caught in the crossfire of the culture wars, whether it’s a consumer boycott of a popular brand of beer or Republican-led states refusing to work with financial institutions that follow environmental, social and governance investing principles. With the court’s ruling, DEI could soon replace ESG as conservatives’ most-loathed acronym.