Brazilian Court Rules UFMG Must Allow Black Candidates to Compete in Both Quota and General Admissions

A Brazilian court has ruled that the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) must change its postgraduate admissions policy, which previously forced Black candidates to choose between competing for reserved quota spots or general admission. The new ruling mandates that self-declared Black candidates can now compete simultaneously in both categories. This means that if a Black candidate achieves a high enough score to qualify for a general admission spot, they will be placed there, thereby freeing up the reserved quota spot for another eligible candidate. This decision stems from a 2020 complaint regarding the doctoral program in anthropology. In that instance, a Black candidate had a higher score than the last person admitted through general competition but was excluded from selection because the university's policy required her to exclusively use the quota. She had ranked third for only two available quota spots. Public Prosecutor Helder Magno da Silva, who filed the lawsuit, argued that the previous rule created an unfair and contradictory situation. He stated that affirmative action policies are intended to increase access for historically excluded groups, but UFMG's policy acted as a "maximum ceiling," preventing high-achieving Black candidates from filling general admission slots. The court's interpretation emphasizes that affirmative actions should expand rights, not create barriers for Black students with excellent academic performance. Consequently, UFMG must remove the prohibition on simultaneous competition in general and racial quotas from its 2020 Anthropology postgraduate program's selection notice, reconfirm the list of approved candidates to include Black students who qualified for general admission based on their scores, and refrain from imposing exclusive choices in future selections.