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Thursday, in a major conservative victory, the Supreme Court struck down the affirmative action policies of two major universities – effectively ending race- based admissions in the U.S.

The court ruled that programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The colleges were accused of unfairly rejecting high-scoring Asian and White applicants on racial grounds.

The court ruled 6-3 in the UNC case and 6-2 in the Harvard case, in which Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself.

According to NBC News, the Supreme Court’s decision effectively overturned the 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger ruling that said race could be a deciding factor in the admissions process for the sake of promoting diverse campuses.

But even in 2003, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that affirmative action will no longer be needed by 2028.

Also today, in a 9-0 ruling the Supreme Court bolstered the ability for employees to obtain accommodations at work for religious reasons.