THE COLLEGE LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION

29 June 2023

CLA Executive Committee Statement on the US Supreme Court’s

Affirmative Action Decision: 

STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE

and

STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, ET AL.

Today’s landmark decision by the Supreme Court runs counter to the vision of access that inspired the tireless work of the College Language Association’s founders. The Supreme Court's Affirmative Action majority argues that a student “must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual.” This argument ignores the reality of society's racist history and culture as stated by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's dissent: "deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life."

The College Language Association (CLA) was founded in 1937 by a group of Black scholars and educators as The Teachers of English in Negro Colleges. Part of our very founding was in response to the racist, exclusionary, and discriminatory practices that existed and continue to exist across the contemporary higher education landscape.

CLA’s mission is to promote and to cultivate the study of languages and literatures in order to improve higher education experiences for students and teachers at colleges and universities across the world. That commitment is founded on a belief in inclusion and diversity, which grounds our efforts to uplift literary excellence, equity, and advocacy for scholarly research.  These pillars are directly connected to the teaching and research of Black literatures and cultures as necessary aspects of higher education. 

As scholars, teachers, and writers, we maintain a deep commitment to those impacted by the decision.