Asian-American students backed in Harvard suit
The Justice Department lends its support to students suing Harvard over policies they claim discriminate against Asian-American applicants.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department lent its support Thursday to students suing Harvard University over affirmative action policies they claim discriminate against Asian-American applicants, in a case that could have far-reaching consequences for the use of affirmative action in college admissions.
In a statement of interest, the department supported the claims of the plaintiffs, a group of Asian-Americans rejected by Harvard. They contend Harvard has systematically discriminated against them by artificially capping the number of qualified Asian-Americans from attending the school to advance less-qualified students of other races.
The Justice Department filing said Harvard “uses a vague ‘personal rating’ that harms Asian-American applicants’ 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.”
The Justice Department has increasingly used such statements of interest to intervene in civil rights cases. But the Trump administration is turning the same tool against affirmative action in college admissions, a major — and highly contentious — legacy of the civil rights era, and one that white conservatives have opposed for decades.
In the past few years, the anti-affirmative action cause has been joined by Asian-Americans who argue they are being held to a higher standard, losing out on coveted slots at places like Harvard as AfricanAmericans, Latinos and other groups get a boost.
Harvard said it was “deeply disappointed” but not surprised “given the highly irregular investigation the DOJ has engaged in thus far.”
The government said Supreme Court rulings require universities considering race in admissions meet several standards.
They must define their diversity-related goals and show they cannot meet those goals without using race as a factor in admissions decisions.
The department argued that Harvard does not adequately explain how race factors into its admissions decisions, leaving open the possibility the university is going beyond what the law allows.