The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that race cannot be used to determine college admissions will be felt in Memphis, experts say, but the greater effect locally will be in schools that draw from a larger pool, including the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University and graduate schools.

Curtis Weathers, who attended the University of Mississippi on a football scholarship and later played for the Cleveland Browns, felt a stab of frustration when he heard the verdict on affirmative action. 

“My response was, ‘Well, we’ll just continue the fight. For African Americans, it’s just always something. I didn’t respond one way or the other. We’ll just continue the fight; it is never ending.”

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Weathers was executive director of the Memphis Academy of Health Sciences for nearly 10 years, starting in 2003, and was later principal at Hamilton High for two years. More recently, he founded The Brotherhood B2M (Boys to Men) chapters in schools here, giving 120 Black boys opportunities to see life beyond their neighborhoods, including the out-of-state campus visits he leads.

“Any time you can open the door wider for kids of color to come through, I’m 1,000% in favor of that. I know people who oppose affirmative action. They think we are giving the farm away, and some complain that it is reverse discrimination. There are all kinds of responses.

“I believe when you open the door wider, it benefits everybody,” he said.

The recent Supreme Court decision, about cases against Harvard and the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill, changes the way that colleges and universities may consider applicants, making it unconstitutional to use race as a factor.

“But colleges are not typically just using race anyway – instead, they are typically considering race as one factor among many,” said Daniel Kiel, professor at the Cecil C. Humphreys Law School at the University of Memphis.

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The ruling allows applicants of any race to describe how their individual experiences or skills have been impacted by race.

“Admissions offices can also still consider characteristics, such as being a first-generation college student or growing up impacted by poverty, which can help ensure a diverse campus and broad opportunities for students,” Kiel said.

Kiel’s latest book, “The Transition: Interpreting Justice from Thurgood Marshall to Clarence Thomas,” includes a section on various affirmative action cases through the years.

“The decision will have an impact in Memphis,” said Rev. Keith Norman, senior pastor at First Baptist Broad and an executive at Baptist Memorial Hospital and Health Care Services. “But in Memphis, it cannot have the same effect as in cities where the African-American population is 20%.”

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Norman expects the University of Memphis will continue to draw the majority of its applicants from the region and the city of Memphis, where people who are Black make up more than 60% of the population.

“In the Memphis area, you will have to come up with a very good reason why you are not selecting these capable applicants wanting to come to your institution,” Norman said.

He also expects the student bodies at Rhodes College and in professional graduate programs, including law schools and medical programs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center could look quite different.

“That problem exists already. We’ve already seen that African-American males are not going into the medical fields at the same rate they were 20-30 years ago,” Norman said.

To counter the effect, several years ago Baptist started Black Men in White Coats, a program to reach Black male students as early as elementary and middle school.

“I am concerned that if Rhodes does not make a conscious effort to really have a screening process to make sure it has a balanced student population, they are going to go backwards,” Norman said.

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Rhodes College is studying the ruling, according to President Jennifer M. Collins, who emphasized that the campus will continue its commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion.

“We look forward to continuing to welcome a diverse and talented group of students to Memphis, from around the country and around the world,” she said.

According to Rhodes, 63% of its student body is white; about 10% is Black.

Rhodes makes admissions decisions based on a wide view of the applicant, she said, including transcript, extracurricular activities and the student’s personal statement about why Rhodes is the best fit. The college’s admissions board does not consider standardized tests.

Christian Brothers University expects no effect on its admissions process “as our current admission practices do not factor race as a component of our admission decision,” said Erin Craig, vice president of enrollment management.

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The University of Memphis did not respond to requests to comment on the ruling and its impact on the admissions.

An ABC News/Ipsos survey over the weekend found that 52% of Americans agree with the decision to overturn race-based schools admissions; 32% disapprove. 

Roughly three-quarters of Republican voters and 26% of Democratic voters support the court’s decision to reject affirmative action in university admissions.

Even though more than half of the nation appears to agree with the ruling, most Americans still do not believe that Black and Hispanic students have a fair chance of getting into the college of their choice compared to their white and Asian student counterparts, according to the poll.

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“It is important to remember that very few admission decisions turn on race alone, so the practical impact may not be so significant. Schools will need to be more intentional and careful about their policies, but those that are committed to diversity can still ensure diverse campuses and broad opportunities,” Kiel said.

He also sees little impact locally in the future talent pool available to local employers.

“The danger is that there will be an effect that will limit opportunities for students, but I am hopeful that colleges and universities will remain committed to ensuring diversity and opportunities. I think local colleges especially will have no difficulty doing so within the confines of the opinion,” he said.

Russ Wigginton, president of the National Civil Rights Museum, said the ruling was a poignant reminder that the work to correct the generational impacts of the nation’s history of systemic racism is far from over.

“As Coretta Scott King wisely shared, ‘Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.’ That is what we have not taught young people, or older ones for that matter. You do not finally win a state of freedom that is protected forever. It doesn’t work that way.”

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The Supreme Court’s ruling that President Joe Biden’s program to forgive student loans is unconstitutional was a second blow to students, especially students of color, according to Norman.

“Affirmative action got Black students into school so they could compete on a level they wouldn’t have had an opportunity to rightfully do. Now, they have to borrow $200,000 to stay there, and you don’t have any opportunity to get relief,” he said. 

Weathers, who graduated from Bishop Byrne High School, was admitted to the University of Mississippi in 1974 when the campus “was still recovering from its past,” he said.

“I had a lot of trepidation about attending Ole Miss,” he said, noting the university at that time had a total about six Black athletes.

“Our class was the largest Black athlete class they had ever recruited. We brought in 12 that year, and we made a contribution.”

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College isn’t just academic training, he said, noting that his time at University of Mississippi helped him see the possibilities in his life beyond anything he had imagined. Limiting that will have other ramifications, he said.

“I actually served as the president of the Black Student Union for several years, working to encourage Black students to enroll.

“There was an active Black community there made it attractive to others. When I got there, it was not active. It was dead in the water.”