In this episode, the GW WonkCast team welcomes guests Richard Kahlenberg and Da’Shon Carr to speak about the repercussions of the recent Affirmative Action decision made by the Supreme Court in June, and how education policymakers might navigate the post-affirmative action landscape.

First, co-hosts Ali Ulin and Nathan Varnell spoke with Richard D. Kahlenberg, a lecturer at George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and a non-resident scholar at Georgetown University’s Progressive Policy Institute. Kahlenberg is the author or editor of nearly 20 books and has been called “the intellectual father of the economic integration movement” in K–12 schooling and “arguably the nation’s chief proponent of class-based affirmative action in higher education admissions.” Though affirmative action has been overturned, the path forward is not clear, and not all scholars agree. While class-based admissions is a distinct, potentially innovative path forward for institutions of higher education to promote equitable admissions, many scholars and advocates argue the door isn’t shut on race-specific diversity efforts. In the second half of this episode, the team spoke with Da’Shon Carr, a Policy Analyst for the Education, Opportunity, and Mobility Initiative with New America’s Higher Education Team. Carr has written extensively at New America promoting racial equity in higher education, particularly as part of the Higher Education team’s Affirmative Action Listening Tour interviewing scholars, students and professionals about the effects of the Students for Fair Admissions decisions on educational equity.

Please direct your feedback on this episode to wonkcast@gmail.com or briefpolicyperspectives@gmail.com.

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The views expressed herein are those of the hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views of Policy Perspectives or the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration.