Allan Bakke, a white student, was twice rejected from the University of California Medical School. He believed the University of California was in violation of the 14th Amendment's "equal protection" clause and the 1965 Civil Rights Act because his grade point average and test scores were higher than those of any minority student accepted during the two years he applied. The school reserved 16 out of 100 openings for minority students, and therefore, Bakke argued, his rejections were based solely on his race