lOWONGAN kONVEKSI dISTRO

 The court has narrowly upheld affirmative action in the past. But the court’s newfound conservative supermajority showed last term it is unafraid of upending precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade.

Justice Clarence Thomas, the court’s longest-serving member and a regular critic of race-conscious policies, made clear early his rejection of the goal of racial diversity in student bodies, which is what previous court have fond a compelling interest.

“I’ve heard the word diversity quite a few times, and I don’t have a clue what it means,” Thomas said to North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Y. Park.

When Park tried to explain the educational benefits of diversity, Thomas, who is the second Black justice to sit on the court, replied that he didn’t “put much stock in that because I’ve heard similar arguments in favor of segregation too.”End of carousel

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who often tries to play a moderating role among conservatives seeking to move the law quickly, showed that the use of race might be an exception.

Roberts in the past has written the court’s conservative opinions in cases confining the Voting Rights Act and the use of race in making public school student assignments. In a forceful exchange with Harvard’s lawyer, he worried about a system in which a student would have better odds for admission “based solely on” skin color.

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After repeated questions, lawyer Seth P. Waxman conceded that being African American or Hispanic — or in some cases Asian American — can tip the scales etermining factor in admission to Harvard,” Roberts said, his voice rising.If it’s “a 100-yard dash, let’s say he gets to start 5 yards closer to the finish line,” Alito said to lawyer David Hinojosa, representing students defending UNC’s policies.

But Justice Sonia Sotomayor fought the analogy. She said universities’ administrators are looking at whether a minority student came from a disadvantaged school, faced and overcame discrimination or came from a family without significant resources. “What the schools are doing is looking at all the factors to try to put the students at the start as equals,” she said.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s first Black female justice, said she worried that if a “university can take into account and value all of the other background and personal characteristics of other applicants, but they can’t value race” it has the “potential of causing more of an equal-protection problem than it’s actually solving.”

It can be the determining factor, Waxman responded, “just as being an oboe player in a year in which the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra needs an oboe player will be the tip.”

Roberts quickly shot back: “We did not fight a civil war about oboe players. We did fight a civil war to eliminate racial discrimination,” he said. “And that’s why it’s a matter of considerable concern. I think it’s important for you to establish whether or not granting a credit based solely on skin color is based on a stereotype when you say this brings diversity of viewpoint. It may not bring diversity of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and others saw college admissions as a zero-sum game: Any advantage given to one student automatically meant a disadvantage to another.