Conservative activist behind SCOTUS college admissions ruling targets diversity in private sector

The conservative activist behind the U.S. Supreme Court case and June decision rejecting race-conscious admission policies at colleges and universities has now set his sights on diversity initiatives in the private sector. Edward Blum, a former stock broker, is not a lawyer. He is a legal strategist who matches plaintiffs and lawyers to set up cases to advance the conservative agenda of eliminating affirmative action programs and voting rights laws across the country. He draws most of his funding from several conservative foundations: DonorsTrust, the Searle Freedom Trust, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and the 85 Fund. 

Blum set up the case that led to the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder that gutted key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Blum, who is now 72, also founded and led the group Students For Fair Admissions. This group was the plaintiff in the lawsuit against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, which resulted in the Supreme Court decision confirming affirmative action policies that consider a student’s race for college admissions are unconstitutional.

In a July New York Times interview, Blum said he’ll be monitoring how elite colleges and universities abide by the SCOTUS decision and placing corporate America under scrutiny for its affirmative action programs.

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