University of California v. Bakke

The case of University of California v. Bakke was a Supreme Court case over the dispute of Allan Bakke believing that he was denied admission to the University of California due to the color of his skin. Bakke was a white man and had better testing scores and grades than some of the African American students that were admitted.

The first argument that came up in the case was the issue of Bakke's age. Bakke was 35 years old when he applied to the university. The side of the university argued that if there was any discrimination that took place in the administration process, then it would've been one based on age. The side of Bakke would argue that age shouldn't be considered because he was only older than the other applicants because he served in the military before hand.

One of the other arguments that the University brought up was the fact that this wasn't a case exclusive to the University of California. Multiple other schools had also denied Allan Bakke of admission. This showed that it most likely was not a result of race that Bakke wasn't getting admitted to theses universities.

Lastly, The University argued that it was due to the other applicants being more well rounded and that although Bakke may have had higher test scores, the other applicants had better applications because they volunteered, played sports, participated in extra curricular activities, etc. This meant that Bakke wasn't denied because of his skin color, he was denied because he was too much of a one dimensional student. 

The decision made by the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for a University to have racial quotas for admission to their school. However, a school using affirmative action to accept minorities was constitutional.