HARVARD SUED OVER DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES IN ADMISSIONS PROCESS
According to The Harvard Crimson, with a 4.6 percent admittance rate and membership in the Ivy League, Harvard is one of the most well-known and prestigious post-secondary schools in the world. However, Harvard has been involved in an ongoing lawsuit since Nov. 2014, when anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed a complaint against Harvard claiming that it has been implementing discriminatory policies in its undergraduate admissions process towards Asian Americans. SFFA is led by conservative legal activist Edward Blum and among its members are Asian Americans who believe they have been unfairly treated in the admissions process.
SFFA has accused Harvard of holding them to a higher standard in terms of grade point averages, standardized test scores and extracurriculars compared to applicants of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, according to the New York Times, SFFA has submitted statistical evidence based on an analysis of over 160,000 student records showing that Harvard has consistently rated Asian-American applicants as lower than others on positive personality traits such as courage and kindness. This claim, denied by Harvard, was officially backed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in a Statement of Interest filed on Aug. 30. The DOJ has taken an interest in the lawsuit due to the millions of dollars in taxpayer funding Harvard receives each year. According to Forbes, during the fiscal year 2014, federal funding for Harvard accumulated to $608 million.
“There is a stereotype that Asians tend to be docile and conform to a set of social expectations and lack leadership skills,” junior Mishal Syed said. “That [might] be where the drop in personality rating comes from. [Harvard] should consider the individual circumstances people are in, [such as] resource access and socioeconomic status [rather than race].”
Supreme Court rulings require universities that consider race in admissions to define their diversity-related goals and explain why these goals cannot be met without using race as a factor. The DOJ has argued that Harvard does not adequately explain how race factors into its admissions decisions. Due to the controversial nature of the lawsuit, the case may go on to the Supreme Court.
According to the Harvard Gazette, the pending lawsuit will go to trial on Oct. 15. The outcome of the lawsuit may have serious consequences, including possible changes to the current policies regarding race’s role in college admissions or even the dismantling of affirmative action nationwide, which could seriously impact seniors applying to Harvard.
“Affirmative action [is needed] to provide and ensure diverse campuses,” senior Aarushi Singh said. “[However, students] should [also] be rewarded on the basis of who works hard and excels, not [only] on uncontrollable [factors] such as race and background.”
Support for the lawsuit has been split, with Asian Americans on opposite sides of the divide. Some groups, such as the Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a nonprofit legal aid and civil rights organization, have backed Harvard’s policy. Harvard’s position has also been supported with legal briefs by sixteen other selective universities, including Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford and all of its fellow Ivy League schools. All of these schools use a holistic approach to the admissions process. They believe race is one factor among many in the background of their applicants and crucial to maintaining a diverse student body. Biology teacher Emi Fujii sees race as a necessary component of the admissions process.
“[Race] is an important part of somebody’s character, history and what they have been through,” Fujii said. “It really factors into who somebody is.”
If the case does indeed go to the Supreme Court its outcome could have major ramifications for other universities regarding whether or not race should be a factor in the college admissions process.
