Comment on this storyComment
A civil rights group announced Monday that it has filed a petition with the federal government to force Harvard University to stop funding children of graduate students in the admissions process. It’s another sign of mounting pressure on top schools to change their policies following last week’s Supreme Court ruling that rejected race-based affirmative action.
Lawyers for Civil Rights said they filed the complaint with the Department of Education on the grounds that Harvard’s so-called legacy admissions preferences violate federal civil rights law because they overwhelmingly benefit white applicants and disadvantage applicants of color.
The complaint came days after the Supreme Court overturned racially sensitive admissions policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Thursday’s landmark ruling found those measures — a form of affirmative action the court had previously allowed in the interest of forming a racially diverse student body — violated the same constitutional safeguards.
Harvard declined to comment on the complaint.
However, it referenced an earlier statement by the university: “Last week the university reiterated its commitment to the core principle that profound and transformative teaching, learning and inquiry depends on a community made up of people from diverse backgrounds, perspectives and lived experiences.”
“As mentioned, over the coming weeks and months, the university will decide how to uphold our core values in line with the Court’s new precedent.”
A spokesman for the Department of Education said on Monday: “The Civil Rights Bureau is not acknowledging any complaints. Our monthly updated list of open investigations can be found here.”
Without affirmative action, how will colleges strive for racial diversity?
After the court ruling, selected colleges and universities across the country are trying to review their admissions practices and adjust them if necessary.
Documents released by the Supreme Court case showed the magnitude of the “legacy” push for Harvard applicants. According to court records, about 34 percent of US applicants who were children of Harvard graduates were accepted from 2009 to 2015. That was far higher than the overall 6 percent acceptance rate for non-Legacy applicants.
Select colleges defend legacy preferences as a legitimate way to recognize and nurture important ties they have with alumni. The alumni are often donors. But the public seems to be deeply skeptical. A Washington Post-Schar School poll last fall found that 75 percent of Americans think it’s inappropriate for universities to give preferential admissions to students whose parents attended the same university.
Amherst College, Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are among the most prominent private colleges and universities that have said they will not grant legacy preferences on admission. But many others, including members of the Ivy League, have refused to follow their lead.
Give this item as a gift
Supreme Court decisions 2023
Check out 3 more stories