Moot Court: Bakke v Regents of California

Today in moot court, my group and I argued the case of the Regents of the University of California v Bakke.  The issue raised was regarding admissions practices of UC Davis.  My group argued on the side of the Regents of California in stating that Bakke was fairly rejected from the universities, and our opposition argued on behalf Bakke in stating that he was unfairly denied admittance.  This case proved to be instrumental in shaping the admittance policies of universities and institutions moving forward.

Allan Bakke applied to twelve medical schools and was denied from all of them, despite having a significantly higher MCAT and GPA than some of the minority applicants that had been admitted.  Bakke applied to the top school of his choice, University of California Davis, a second time and upon being rejected again he made the decision to present his case in court.  He attempted to sue the University of California for allegedly violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14^th Amendment’s Equal Protection Act.

Both sides presented effective arguments. My group stated numerous reasons as to why such programs were put into place and were needed during this period in history.  White individuals accounted for a significant portion of students in classrooms, and due to a societal change during this period it was logical that minorities begin to be included.  In attempt to include minorities, the university set aside a certain amount of seats for these students.  This was not uncommon and was the reason why Bakke was not initially accepted.  The opposition argued that he had a 3.51 GPA was a National Merit Scholar and presented very high grades across his application, and therefore earned admittance into the university. After weighing both arguments, the Court ruled that Bakke was unfairly rejected and therefore granted him admittance into the University of California Davis.