Sotomayor, J., dissenting
Finally, the courts below correctly concluded that Harvard complies with this Court’s repeated admonition that colleges and universities cannot define their diversity interest “as ‘some specified percentage of a particular group merely because of its race or ethnic origin.’ ” Fisher I, 570 U. S., at 311 (quoting Bakke, 438 U. S., at 307). Harvard does not specify its diversity objectives in terms of racial quotas, and “SFFA did not offer expert testimony to support its racial balancing claim.” Harvard II, 980 F. 3d, at 180, 186–187. Harvard’s statistical evidence, by contrast, showed that the admitted classes across racial groups varied considerably year to year, a pattern “inconsistent with the imposition of a racial quota or racial balancing.” Harvard I, 397 F. Supp. 3d, at 176–177; see Harvard II, 980 F. 3d, at 180, 188–189.
Similarly, Harvard’s use of “one-pagers” containing “a snapshot of various demographic characteristics of Harvard’s applicant pool” during the admissions review process is perfectly consistent with this Court’s precedents. Id., at 170–171, 189. Consultation of these reports, with no “specific number firmly in mind,” “does not transform [Harvard’s] program into a quota.” Grutter, 539 U. S., at 335–336. Rather, Harvard’s ongoing review complies with the Court’s command that universities periodically review the necessity of the use of race in their admissions programs. Id., at 342; Fisher II, 579 U. S., at 388.
The Court ignores these careful findings and concludes that Harvard engages in racial balancing because its “focus on numbers is obvious.” Ante, at 31. Because SFFA failed to offer an expert and to prove its claim below, the majority
the context of their lived experience”); id., at 659 (“The parties stipulated, and the evidence shows, that readers evaluate applicants by taking into consideration dozens of criteria,” and even SFFA’s expert “concede[d] that the University’s admissions process is individualized and holistic”). Stated simply, race is not “a defining feature of any individual application.” Id., at 662; see also infra, at 48.
