[DesertRhino]

I think it’s both. They can roll their eyes at the most qualified applicants and go the “wholistic” route. So ignoring better qualified asians makes no difference to them. And remember, they have become nothing but a rubber stamp for elites to ensure their kids can get into power positions, they select FOR that. Obama is a classic example.
He could have never got in on merit. (nevermind to CalTech)

But students aside, this is why the Ivy schools can repeatedly hire the trainwrecks they have as professors. Kagan, Elizabeth Warren, etc etc...

They whole thing is a leftist joke divorced from education. Students, Teachers, all of it.

[Paladin2]

Too many "elite" uni profs today are leftists and more concerned with equality of outcome than teaching the accumulated truely scientific/statistically significant verified learnings of their specialties.

Hence an "elite" diploma is of less real value than it used to be 30 years ago.