Charles Barkley leaves $5 million in will for Black students at Auburn following Affirmative Action ruling

Former Auburn Tigers star and NBA legend Charles Barkley is trying to do his part to advance diversity at his alma mater following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that ruled the practice of affirmative action as unconstitutional in a decision on Thursday to end the court’s term.

After the decision, Barkley revealed that he is changing his will to try to boost enrollment of Black students at Auburn, which has been in decline in recent years.

“In my will, I am leaving Auburn $5 million,” Barkley said Friday, via AL.com. “I’m going to change it to be just for scholarships for Black students. That’s just my way of trying to make sure Auburn stays diverse.”

“I love Auburn,” he added. “I’ve actually changed it to be used for kids from poor homes. But after that ruling yesterday, my phone was blowing up. I was talking to my friends and said, ‘I need to make sure Black folks always have a place at Auburn. So, I’m gonna change my will and make it exclusive for Black students—all $5 million.’ It’s just for me the right thing to do. I always want to make sure that Auburn’s diverse.”

Barkley pitching in to aid Auburn’s diversity

Black student enrollment at Auburn was 4.91% in the fall of 2022, according to the school’s data. The New York Times says Black enrollment at the school peaked in the early 2000s at 8.7%.

Census Bureau data shows that Alabama has a population that is 26.8% Black, meanwhile, out of roughly 333 million people living in the U.S., 13.5% are Black.

“We’ve always lacked diversity,” Barkley said. “I’m doing my part to make sure we are more diverse.”

According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, the ruling by the Supreme Court is supported by 52% of Americans. Meanwhile, 32% disapprove and 16% say they aren’t sure.

Public and private colleges and universities may no longer factor race into admissions decisions. In California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Nebraska and Washington, affirmative action practices were already outlawed at public universities. With the new SCOTUS ruling, the law now applies to private institutions as well.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, leader of the three dissenters, wrote that the majority opinion contradicts “the vision of equality embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment.”

“The court cements a superficial rule of colorblindness as a constitutional principle in an endemically segregated society where race has always mattered and continues to matter,” Sotomayor wrote.

Following the court’s latest decision, a new lawsuit involving Harvard’s admissions practices could reshape admissions once again.

Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a suit Monday that alleges Harvard’s legacy admissions system violates the Civil Rights Act.