caption,
Protesting the US Supreme Court decision, a young man holds up a sign that reads, “43% of white students at Harvard are.” [admitidos por serem classificados como] Legacy, athletes and children of donors. Who is being “unjustly favored” here?
Item Information
- Author: Sam Cabral
- Roll, BBC News
3 hours ago
Harvard University’s longstanding and controversial practice in the United States of favoring the admission of candidates who have family ties to the institution is now being brought to justice.
The socalled Legacy Admissions something like “Legacy Admissions” make it easier for students whose parents or relatives studied at Harvard or donated money to the institution.
The beneficiaries are predominantly white Americans, as most elite American universities only began accepting students from minority groups a generation ago.
Therefore, legacy registrations have long been seen as an advantage for whites and the wealthy.
A civil society organization filed a lawsuit on Monday (03/07) and called on the government to prevent this type of recording from continuing.
The lawsuit comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Harvard and other U.S. universities can no longer consider race as a key factor in admissions — such as promoting negative action on blacks and Latinos.
In a historic decision, the country’s highest court voted 63 on Thursday (6/29) to overturn Affirmative Action, a measure that has existed in the country for decades.
Spurred on by last week’s ruling, Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) a Bostonbased nonprofit has filed a federal lawsuit against Harvard.
LCR argues that the university “prioritises hundreds of mostly white students in its admissions process not because of their merits, but simply because of the origins of their relatives.”
The organization argues that the old registration policy violates an article of the Civil Rights Act, citing data from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Econômicas, in free translation).
They show that nearly 70% of applicants admitted through Legacy are white, and that these students are six to seven times more likely to be admitted to Harvard than those who don’t apply through that category .
The NBER study adds that of all new white students at the university, more than 43% were admitted through old admissions; for inclusion on the Dean’s list of interests; as athletes or children of teachers and employees.
Harvard declined to comment on the case.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three groups representing black and Hispanic communities in the New England area. The lawsuit asks the New England Department of Education to investigate Harvard’s old admissions, declare them illegal, and order the university to stop the practice if it wants to continue receiving federal funding.
“There is no birthright at Harvard,” LCR executive director Ivan EspinozaMadrigal said in a statement.
“As the Supreme Court recently stated, ‘Eradicating racial discrimination means eliminating it altogether.’
He added: “Why do we reward young people for privileges and benefits accumulated by previous generations? Your last name and bank account size are not a measure of merit and should not affect the college admissions process.”
Congresswoman Barbara Lee agreed. The California Democrat wrote on Twitter: “Let’s be clear: Affirmative action still exists for white people. It’s called legacy admission.”
Harvard declined to comment on Monday’s lawsuit, but forwarded its response regarding the Supreme Court ruling to the BBC last week.
In last Thursday’s statement, the university said it will continue to welcome “people from different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences.”
Institutions such as the University of California and all public universities in Colorado have already banned older admissions.
However, such admissions still account for almost a quarter of new students at some top universities suggesting the initiative is building a strong alumni community and donor base.