Does Harvard discriminate against Asian-Americans?

Everyone agrees that Monta Vista High School in Cupertino is a beacon of academic achievement. It regularly ranks near the top of the Academic Performance Index for California schools. In 2016, Newsweek magazine ranked it the 18th-best high school in the country. It offers a broad swath of AP courses and chances for college credit.

Monta Vista’s student body is about 80 percent AsianAmerican, which might not be worth mentioning except for this: It is one of four high schools whose records are being requested in a federal civil case that alleges that Harvard University discriminates against Asians in admissions.

The lawsuit seeks to show that students with similar qualifications and extracurricular records have different chances of getting into the elite university. AsianAmericans have cited a Princeton study showing that Asians need to score 140 points higher on the SAT to have the same chances for ad-

mission to elite colleges, something they call “the Asian tax.’’

A recent New York Times piece featured the story of Austin Jia, who was not from Monta Vista but who could have stood for many who are. Jia was turned down at Harvard despite near-perfect SAT scores and an extracurricular record that included debate team, tennis captain and state orchestra.

Pointing out that classmates who had lower scores — but who were not Asian-American — got into elite schools, Jia said he was “super disillusioned’’ with the process. Apparently he’s not the only one who thinks this way: The Trump Justice Department, seeking to investigate what it calls “intentional race-based discrimination,’’ may focus on Harvard.

In the meantime, I have advice for Mr. Jia, now a student at Duke: Get over it. Life will go on very nicely at Duke.

Although Harvard may tell you otherwise, admitting a freshman class to an elite Ivy school is like fashioning an omnibus bill in Congress: You try to satisfy different constituencies, but we may as well give up the notion that it’s done wholly on the basis of creating a meritocracy. It is not.

A private college wants to encourage contributions, and hence admits the sons and daughters of alumni. It wants to win at football, and hence admits jocks. It wants to have diverse kids who can carry forth the idea that our society offers a chance to everyone. It wants quirky kids whose promise may still be unfolding. And yes, it wants smart kids, too, but that isn’t just a matter of SAT’s and grades.

It probably can’t satisfy all those constituencies in a class of roughly 2,000. I’ve often thought that Harvard or Yale should admit a broader universe of kids who could do the work and thrive in extracurricular activities. Then hold a lottery to see who gets to go. It would have the merit of showing the world that unfairness is part of the process.

I believe wholeheartedly in affirmative action. It makes for a better experience by exposing undergraduates to students of diverse backgrounds.

Harvard’s class of 2021 is 22.2 percent AsianAmerican, 11.6 percent Hispanic, 14.6 percent African-American and 2.5 percent Native American or Pacific Islander. That strikes me as a university that is trying to achieve diversity. And it is no bad thing.