Harvard bias trial to spotlight use of
race in college admissions
Send a link to a friend
[October 12, 2018]
By Nate Raymond
BOSTON (Reuters) - A lawsuit challenging
the use of race as a factor in U.S. college admissions will go to trial
in Boston on Monday, when Harvard University will face accusations that
it discriminates against Asian-American applicants.
The lawsuit, backed by the Trump administration, could eventually reach
the Supreme Court, giving the newly cemented five-member conservative
majority a chance to bar the use of affirmative action to help minority
applicants get into college.
"The case is critically important as it's really about diversity at
colleges all across the country," said Nicole Gon Ochi, an attorney at
Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Los Angeles who supports Harvard in
the case.
Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), founded by anti-affirmative action
activist Edward Blum, sued Harvard in 2014, contending it illegally
engages in "racial balancing" that artificially limits the number of
Asian-American students at the Ivy League school.
The U.S. Justice Department, which launched a related probe of Harvard
after Republican President Donald Trump's election, has backed the
group, saying the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university has not seriously
considered alternative, race-neutral approaches to admissions.
Conservatives argue that affirmative action, which aims to offset
historic patterns of racial discrimination, can hurt white people and
Asian Americans while helping black and Hispanic applicants.
SFFA said that its analysis of Harvard admissions data shows that
Asian-American applicants are less likely to be admitted than their
white, Hispanic or black counterparts.
Harvard denies discriminating against Asian Americans, saying their
rates of admission have grown significantly since 2010. Asian-Americans,
who represent about 6 percent of the U.S. population, make up 23 percent
of Harvard's current freshman class.
It notes that the Supreme Court has previously held that colleges have
an interest in enrolling diverse groups of students and may consider
race as one factor among many when reviewing applications.
[to top of second column]
|
People walk past Harvard University t-shirts for sale in Harvard
Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., November 16, 2012.
REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi/File Photo
The last time the nation's top court examined the issue was in 2016,
when conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the court's
liberals to allow race to be considered in college admissions.
Kennedy's replacement, Brett Kavanaugh, could be more likely to vote
to bar its use.
"This is one area where there could be a significant change by
replacing Kennedy with Kavanaugh," said Ilya Shapiro, a senior
fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.
The Justice Department last month opened a probe into whether Yale
University also discriminates against Asian Americans, and SFFA has
a similar case pending against the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill on behalf of white students.
"A student's race or ethnicity should not be a consideration in
university admissions," Blum said.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Scott Malone and Steve
Orlofsky)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|