Summary and key notes on the case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978) Facts:<Tab/>Allan Bakke, a thirty-five-year-old white man, had twice applied for admission to the University of California Medical School at Davis. He was rejected both times. The school reserved sixteen places in each entering class of one hundred for "qualified" minorities, as part of the university's affirmative action program, in an effort to redress longstanding, unfair minority exclusions from the …

…process and equal protection of the laws. As a result of the Supreme Court decision, Bakke was admitted to the medical school. This Court decision put an end to racial quotas in the admissions process at public universities. However, the Court did not say that public institutions had to disregard race and ethnicity completely. Instead it stated that race could be considered as long as other factors such as economic disadvantage were considered as well.