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A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June kept alive the right of colleges and universities to consider race in admissions. But in some states — starting with California in 1996 — voters have taken away that right, barring public colleges and universities from considering race and ethnicity in admitting students. While colleges and higher education associations have repeatedly urged state voters not to enact such bans, they have been largely on the sidelines of a legal fight over whether the bans themselves are unconstitutional.