Black University of Texas alums are not taking the Supreme Court’s affirmative action hearing sitting down.
Hearings began yesterday in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas, brought on by one-time UT applicant Abigail Fisher. Fisher alleges that she was denied entry to the school in 2008 because of the university’s affirmative action policies. She said that because she was White, she was rejected from the university and her spot was given to a less-qualified student of color.
Fisher filed a lawsuit against the school in 2013, but the Supreme Court deferred it to the lower courts, which ruled in favor of UT. However, a challenge to the original ruling is bringing the case before the Court yet again. During yesterday’s hearings, Justice Antonin Scalia argued in support of Fisher, saying that Black students were often times better off in “slower-track” schools, suggesting that it doesn’t benefit them to attend academically rigorous institutions such as the University of Texas.
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Cue the Black “Texas exes.”
Using the hashtag #StayMadAbby, Black alums of the Texas university—along with Black college graduates everywhere—are tweeting photos of themselves in their graduation gowns, along with statistics showing that Black students make up a small percentage of the school’s population.
“Graduated May 2012,” one Twitter user wrote. “Abby would’ve been my classmate. You really tried it. Bloop. #StayMadAbby #BlackTexasEx.”
“Biracial Black alumna of @UTAustin & PhD student whose SAT scores were probably higher than Abby’s. #StayMadAbby #BlackTexasEx,” wrote another user.
Join the convo by tweeting your own college graduation pics.