Students from communities of color who are victims of discrimination, through the association Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), are suing Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
SFFA represents students who have been rejected by universities and who say they have been victims of discrimination due to admissions policies.
SSFA has sued Harvard and the University of North Carolina over their race-based admissions applications, alleging that Harvard is violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Asian Americans, but none of the victims have testified.
The association has also asked the Supreme Court to overturn Grutter v. Bollinger, which allowed the University of Michigan Law School to take race into account in admissions in an effort to achieve greater diversity.
And it is that both Harvard and the University of North Carolina have argued that racial criteria are used to increase diversity on their campuses.
"Affirmative action cases have remained on the books and there is strong precedent on the books for the continued use of race in admissions policies," said John C. Yang, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), at a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services where experts gathered to discuss what is at stake for students of color in maintaining racial criteria in university admissions policies.
Yang also noted that at Harvard, admissions of Asian-American students have increased significantly, saying, “They make up nearly 28 percent of the most recent admitted class, even though they represent about 7 percent of the U.S. population.”
District and appellate courts have concluded that there is no evidence of discrimination against the Asian-American community.
Additionally, Yang noted that if Harvard were to stop considering race in admissions, the number of African-American students would drop from 14 percent to 6 percent, while the number of Latino students would drop from 14 percent to 9 percent.
"They're betting against fairness and opportunity. But history is on our side, the Constitution is on our side, the law is on our side, and the facts are on our side," said David Hinojosa of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Hinojosa also noted that “the stakes could not be higher” and denounced that many people are betting against affirmative action, which will affect admission opportunities for communities of color.
Admission policies provide opportunities
"I went to public schools all my life, and from a very young age, I often translated and advocated for my parents," Harvard graduate Sally Chen told the press conference, noting that Harvard's admissions policies allowed her the benefits of an education as the daughter of immigrant workers.
She also noted that building interracial coalitions has allowed her to advocate for policies that provide greater educational opportunities for all.
Michaele Turnage-Young of the Legal Defense Fund noted that students from minority communities have fewer opportunities to be admitted to universities and are three to six times more likely than white students to attend a high-poverty school.
“All students deserve a fair chance at college,” Turnage-Young said, warning that erasing racial criteria from admissions policies could make it impossible for communities of color to represent themselves on their applications.
This publication was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
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