Thousands of college students, including nearly 50 Georgetown undergraduates, attended protests at the U.S. Supreme Court building in northeast Washington, D.C., Tuesday morning as justices heard arguments in two landmark affirmative action cases.

In both cases, Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, plaintiffs dispute the University of Michigan’s admissions policies. The cases will likely determine the legality of the use of race in admissions programs, a policy under fire for the first time since the high court’s 1978 Bakke v. Regents of the University of California ruling.

Gratz is challenging Michigan’s undergraduate admissions policy, which uses a 150-point “selection” index to evaluate applicants, assigning 20 points to African American, Latino and Native American applicants. Students from across the country attended the rally outside the Supreme Court as well as other rallies throughout the National Mall.

“If anything I hope that the demonstrations conveyed the strong belief that America is best when it is inclusive and brings everyone to the table,” Luis Torres (SFS ’05) said.

“If I did not go [to the rally], then I would have no reason to complain if the ruling [came] out to one that is contrary to what I believe, because I would have kept silent when it mattered,” Udochi Nwogu (SFS ’06) said. “I could not sit silent and watch from the sideline while an injustice such as this was being threatened. What would you do if you saw your car or your friend’s car being hijacked? Would you not scream for help or notify the police?”

Torres agreed, stating that by protesting he was doing all that he could to support a policy that he feels strongly about.

“I feel that, as a Georgetown student and a Catholic devoted to the church’s principles of social justice, advocating for a cause which seeks to bring about the inclusion of individuals who have

historically been shut out of the opportunity structures of our society is one of the most worthy ways in which I can invest my time,” Torres said.

Members of College Republicans also attended the protest to speak with national, local and college press, including MTV, ABC and CNN.

“We showed up and were shocked to find a race-bated rent-a-mob of nearly 10,000 people,” Benjamin said, adding that the ratio of affirmative action supporters to affirmative action opponents was “5,000 to one.”I didn’t see anyone who was clearly against affirmative action.”

The justices made an audiotape of the hearings publicly available after hearing the arguments. The last time the justices made such a tape public immediately after opening arguments was for the contested presidential election in 2000.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who is seen as the swing vote on the bench, asked several pointed questions to opponents of affirmative action during the hearing, leading several pundits to speculate that she will vote in favor of maintaining the use of race in admissions policies.

“A university or a law school is faced with a serious problem when it’s one that gets thousands of applications for just a few slots,” O’Connor said, adding that “a lot of factors go into” deciding who is admitted.

O’Connor addressed the case of Barbara Grutter, who claimed that she was unfairly denied admission to the University of ichigan’s law school. “How are we certain that there is an injury to your client that she wouldn’t have experienced for other reasons?”

Georgetown University and its students have been active in supporting the University of Michigan. The university, along with several other top-tier schools, recently filed an amicus curiae brief supporting affirmative action policies. Additionally, Georgetown Law Center students received nearly 14,000 signatures from law students nationwide on a separate brief submitted in February. In Supreme Court cases, parties with legal expertise can submit a brief of amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” to highlight additional arguments supporting either side.

One local university, however, recently decided to ban such racial preferences. Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors unanimously voted to end affirmative action policies in admissions, financial aid and hiring practices on March 10.