Commentary The Supreme Court is to hear two cases—against Harvard and the University of North Carolina—that call into question the use of race-based affirmative action. Students for a Fair Admissions (SFFA) ask the court to hold that institutions of higher education cannot use race as a factor in admissions. Is it time to end race-based affirmative action, as African American scholar and New York Times columnist John McWhorter argues? Should selective colleges take account of other barriers instead, ones that cross racial categories—such as those of class—in their admissions process? Or should decisions to admit or deny applications be based on merit and not consider race? What about legacy admissions for the sons and daughters of alumni? A less discussed question, and the one I want to address here, is how admissions policies of elite colleges affect the lives of children and families. Selective admissions processes that discriminate against some …