Monday is the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark opinion in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the case that ended racial classifications and preferences in college admissions. The scope and effects of this decision have proven it to be one of the most consequential civil rights rulings in modern American history.

The decision reaffirmed one of our nation’s foundational legal principles: The Constitution and our civil rights laws do not permit colleges and universities to treat applicants differently because of their race. Moreover, the opinion affects the use of race in other areas of our public policies — employment, contracting, and government grants — where racial preferences are likely forbidden in these contexts as well.