Posted on 08/30/2018 2:17:44 PM PDT by markomalley
The United States Department of Justice said in a court filing Thursday morning that Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policies inflict “unlawful racial discrimination” against Asian American applicants.
“The record evidence demonstrates that Harvard’s race-based admissions process significantly disadvantages Asian-American applicants compared to applicants of other racial groups — including both white applicants and applicants from other racial minority groups,” department officials wrote.
The Justice Department’s criticism came as part of a “statement of interest” it filed in the ongoing admissions lawsuit that alleges Harvard discriminates against Asian Americans in its admissions process. Its statement is meant to oppose the University’s earlier motion that the suit be dismissed before it goes to trial.
Harvard spokesperson Anna Cowenhoven wrote in an emailed statement that the University resents the department’s interference. She also wrote that Harvard continues to deny all charges of discrimination.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Department of Justice has taken the side of Edward Blum and Students for Fair Admissions, recycling the same misleading and hollow arguments that prove nothing more than the emptiness of the case against Harvard,” Cowenhoven wrote in an emailed statement.
Anti-affirmative action advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions first filed suit against Harvard four years ago. Over the course of summer 2018, hundreds of pages of internal College documents related to the admissions process became public as part of the summary judgment phase of the lawsuit.
Department lawyers specifically pointed to various revelations that proceeded from the documents’ release as proof that Harvard’s admissions policies are discriminatory against Asian Americans.
“The evidence… shows that Harvard provides no meaningful criteria to cabin its use of race; uses a vague ‘personal rating’ that harms Asian-American applicant’s chances for admission and may be infected with racial bias; engages in unlawful racial balancing; and has never seriously considered race-neutral alternatives in its more than 45 years of using race to make admissions decisions,” department lawyers wrote.
The lawyers cited Harvard’s receipt of considerable federal funding as justification for the Justice Department’s involvement in the suit. Referencing an earlier Court opinion, attorneys argued the department must work to ensure that tax dollars “do not serve to finance the evil of private prejudice.”
The memo, which is signed by Acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore, heavily cites the testimony of Harvard admissions officers— including Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 — as well as internal University research which the Justice Department says reveals how the admissions process “harms” Asian-American applicants.
Harvard’s internal research office concluded the College’s admissions policies produce “negative effects” for Asian Americans in a series of reports circulated among top administrators in 2013. But the reports were never made public and appear not to have spurred College officials to take any action to address the situation.
In their filing, Department lawyers specifically took Harvard to task for failing to act on the report.
“Harvard admits that, on average, it scores Asian-American applicants lower on the personal rating than white applicants,” lawyers wrote. “Yet when an internal Harvard report pointed out that the personal rating may be infused with racial bias and sought authorization to study the issue further, Harvard buried it.”
This is not the first time the Justice Department has sought to intervene in the suit. The department requested the unsealing of previously confidential Harvard admissions documents and data in April.
The Justice Department is independently conducting an ongoing Title VI investigation in response to allegations that the College discriminates against Asian-American students in its admissions process.
As part of this investigation, the department has had the opportunity to access sealed materials — including applicants’ admissions files, rating procedures, and internal correspondence among University officials — considered highly confidential in the context of the lawsuit posed by Students for Fair Admissions.
Don't think this is quite the story here. In fact, students of both Caucasian and Asian races/ethnicities are discriminated against in order to favor Black and Latino students. (See this Powerline piece and this Federalist item for more.
But, of course, what should one expect from a college paper?
If this helps JUST ONE CHILD than isn’t it worth it?
Well, I’m just glad the Sessions gang is awake and doing SOMETHING.
Meanwhile the “swamp” is raping America and Mr. Magoo is whistling past the grave yard.
Beauregard is ball-less.
The groupthink is strong in your post
True. Being considered “African American” on an application is a massive boost for getting into an Ivy League. They are admitted with far lower test scores than whites and Asians.
Harvard wouldn’t know a white guy with Hepatitis from a hole in the ground.
Knit one, purl two, Harvard, Harvard, boo hoo hoo.
bookmark
Hillery causes the deaths of 20 CIA Agents due to her illegal server and committed 30,000 Felonys to cover it up along with a few Mafia type executions and the Justice Department is busy with school enrollment statistics?
I call that DIRTY COPS.
Placement should be on MERIT only, not Affirmative Action Bullsh!t.
Did not need the DOJ to prove such.......
My take is that Asian or Asian American students are too intelligent for Harvard and Harvard prefers the “non thinking” minorities so they can mold and shape them and their attitudes/thinking.
I was a manager in a medium sized state department in Cal. We had our annual affirmative jerk-off in which the flavor of the month was hispanic women. I pointed out if we hired more hispanics (we had a lot of men and they ere adding women and not subtracting men, we would effect the other “categories.” In sacramento we had 9% asian and we benefited from their work ethic. But the population was 3.7% asian. I said we don’t need to hire more hispanics, we need to hire fewer asians. I was called every name in the book. But I ha dint out the idiocy of affirmative action and the numbers game.
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