(exciting music) - I'm Paris Jackson in the Crosscut KCTS 9 newsroom.

For over two decades, the University of Washington has sought to increase the diversity of their student body without the help of Affirmative Action.

In 1998, Washington voters banned government entities from using race as a factor in hiring or admissions.

A 2020 Brookings Institution study found in 10 states that have either banned Affirmative Action or had court rulings preventing its use, enrollment of students who are Black, Latino, or American Indian were underrepresented at an average rate of 16% below the populations of those graduating high school.

Recently, UDub has seen moderate success of increased Black undergrads through an aggressive outreach and recruiting strategy.

Meanwhile, nationwide universities and colleges will have to grapple with the same circumstance as UDub if the Supreme Court rejects two admission cases brought by Harvard and the University of North Carolina later this year.

I'm Paris Jackson.

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