It's September. That means a new school year for many students. But this year, it means classes are beginning at colleges across the country with the first class of enrollees after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action. That means raise cannot be considered as a factor in admissions. And we are seeing the results

of that decision. Colleges, particularly Ivy League schools, are reporting across the board just about

a reduction in the number of black and Latino students in their incoming classes. This is an issue, of course. I feel

personally connected to this because even Boston University, I'm a proud terrier. My alma mater has

fewer black students. And it made me think when I was there, I remember so many times I was the only black person in the classroom as it was.

So that means more people will have that experience if they get there at all.

So what's the solution?

I'm Kimberly Atkins Store, and this is Justice by Design.

This is where we find solutions to some of the pressing problems we have,

like equal access to higher education. And to discuss that with me, I am so thrilled to have

Jinhee Lee of the Legal Defense Fund at the NAACP. Jinhe, thank you so much for joining me.

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for having me.

This is such an important topic, and I'm looking forward to this conversation.

So, Jen He, before we get started, I want you to introduce yourself a little bit so our listeners

know your work in this space.

So I am the director of strategic initiatives at the Legal Defense Fund, and we actually represented

25 Harvard student and alumni organizations in the Students for Fair Admission versus Harvard

case, the case that went to the Supreme Court.

And we represented these students and alumni

from the very beginning at trial and stuck with them all the way through the court process for

years until it reached the Supreme Court. And I can tell you that the decision was devastating

for them because they knew and experienced firsthand how important racial diversity is and was to their educational experience.

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