Washington, DC:
The Harvard Universitys admissions policy has illegally discriminated Asian-American applicants, the United States
Department of Justicestated last week. In a statement issued, the
Justice Departmentsaid
Harvards admission process significantly disadvantages Asian-American students compared to other racial groups.
No American should be denied admission to school because of their race, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. As a recipient of taxpayer dollars,
Harvardhas a responsibility to conduct its admissions policy without racial discrimination by using meaningful admissions criteria that meet lawful requirements.
A group, Students for Fair Admissions,filed a lawsuit in 2014 claiming that
Harvarduses racial balancing as part of its admissions formula and that the practice is illegal.
Harvardhas challenged those claims, saying the group is misinterpreting data it released about how it selects students.
Students for Fair Admission said in a June court filing, Asian-Americans would account for more than 43 percent of the students admitted to
Harvard, rather than the 18.7 percent.
In its court filings,
Harvardaccuses the group of painting a dangerously inaccurate picture of its admissions process, saying it also considers personal essays and teacher recommendations.
Harvard College does not discriminate against applications from any group in its admissions process, the
universitysaid in a statement, vowing to vigorously defend the right of
Harvardand other universities to seek the education benefits that come from a class that is diverse on multiple dimensions.
Justice Departmentlawyers said the group has presented compelling evidence that
Harvards factoring of race into admitting students does discriminate against Asian-Americans.
Harvarduses a personal rating that includes subjective factors including likability and whether someone is a good person with human qualities, according to court documents. The school has admitted that, on average, it has ranked Asian-American applications lower on these qualities, the
Justice Departmentcharges in its court filing.
The
Justice Departmentlawyers said
Harvardhas not provided any meaningful criteria to explain how it weighs race against the other factors in an application, a requirement under Supreme Court of the United States precedent.
