What is university of California regents v. Bakke?

In Bakke v Regents of the University of California, Alan Bakke, who had applied to the University and been rejected, sued the Regents claiming that his civil rights as a white had been denied by the University's policy of affirmative action for non--white applicants. Affirmative action, he argued, violated the Civil RIghts Act of 1964, which forbids racial discrimination by the federal government or any program (such as a state university) that receives federal funding. The Supreme Court held that affirmative action was constitutionally allowed so long as race was only one of several factors taken into account by admissions officers, but that strict quotas that could apply regardless of qualifications violated the law.