The Virginia Polytechnic Institute will no longer permit any consideration of race in admissions, financial aid, or employment decisions, Virginia Tech’s Board of Directors announced this month.

The decision comes shortly before the April 1 Supreme Court date for Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, two cases contesting the University of Michigan’s affirmative action policy. Since December, when the Supreme Court announced that it would hear the cases, admissions offices across the country have come under scrutiny for their admissions policies and their efforts at encouraging diversity in higher education.

The resolution says Virginia Tech will not “discriminate against, grant preferences in favor of, or otherwise weigh or consider an applicant’s disability, age, veteran status, political affiliation, race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religious belief, or gender at any point in the admissions or hiring process.”

The new policy specifically prohibits quotas — a mainstay of the University of Michigan’s admissions policies. It also says Virginia Tech will recruit as widely as possible in both admissions and hiring.

As a result of community concern about the resolution, the Board of Directors will meet again April 6 to re-evaluate its decision.

— Bridget Kelly