Opponents, supporters of affirmative action on whether college admissions can be truly colorblind

Edward Blum, of Tallahassee, Fla., is not a lawyer; he retired from a job in finance. But he is founder and president of Students for Fair Admissions, a group he acknowledges starting to challenge higher education affirmative action policies in court. "The equal rights provision of our 14th Amendment basically gets to the point that people should not be treated differently because of their race or ethnicity," said Blum.

He also argues that affirmative action violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act. "The opportunities must be the same, regardless of your race or ethnicity," he said.

Affirmative action has helped boost the number of Black, Latinx and other minorities who are under-represented at prestigious schools. But now those racial preferences may be prohibited, in large part due to Blum's efforts. The Supreme Court is now considering cases he brought targeting affirmative action at the University of North Carolina (the nation's oldest public university) and Harvard (the oldest private college).