June 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday held off on deciding whether to take on a Harvard University case dealing with race and admissions to give the Biden administration a chance to weigh in.
A First Circuit Appeals Court panel ruled in November that Harvard did not discriminate against Asian American applicants in admissions, saying the school's use of race, which helped boost the admittance of Black and Latino students, was legal.
Some Asian American students, with the help of the conservative organization Students for Fair Admissions, challenged that Harvard's admissions policies systematically discriminated against them.
"The acting solicitor general is invited to file a brief in this case expressing the views of the United States," the court said in its one-sentence order Monday.
The appeals court ruling confirmed a lower court decision by U.S. District Judge Allison Burrough, who sided with Harvard. Students For Fair Admissions is hoping for better luck with a Supreme Court with a 6-3 conservative advantage with the addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett last year.
In February, the Justice Department under President Joe Biden dropped a similar lawsuit against Yale University, which was charged with discriminating against Asian American and White applicants. President Donald Trump's Justice Department had supported the lawsuit.
Students for Fair Admissions said in February that Yale's limited use of race in admissions must continue to be litigated. The organization has also filed challenges against the University of Texas and the University of North Carolina.
"Using race and ethnicity in college admissions decisions is unfair, unconstitutional and is fraying the social fabric that holds our nation together," said Edward Blum, the president of the organization.