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BOSTON – A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a ruling telling Harvard University of discrimination against applicants of Asian descent.
Two judges of the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston have dismissed the demands of an anti-affirmative action group that accuses Ivy League University of imposing a “racial sanction” on Asian Americans.
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The decision deals a blow to the group, Students for Fair Admissions, and brings the case closer to a possible review by the Supreme Court of the United States. Some legal scholars believe the case will be taken to court, and both parties are bracing for this outcome.
Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions, said he was disappointed but “our hope is not lost”.
“This lawsuit is now on track to go to the United States Supreme Court where we will call on the judges to end these unfair and unconstitutional race-based admissions policies at Harvard and all colleges and universities.” Blum said in a written statement.
The case has reignited a nationwide debate over the role of race in college admissions. In multiple decisions spanning decades, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that colleges can view race as a limited factor in promoting diversity on campus. But the practice faces growing challenges in court, including three lawsuits from Fair Admissions students.
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In the latest ruling, the justices concluded that Harvard’s admissions process passed legal process and met requirements previously created by the Supreme Court.
“The question before us is whether Harvard’s limited use of race in its admissions process to achieve diversity in the period in question is consistent with the requirements of the Supreme Court precedent. There was no mistake, ”wrote the judges.
The group’s 2014 lawsuit alleges that Harvard admissions officers use subjective “personal assessment” to discriminate against Asian Americans who apply to the school. Using six years of admissions data, the group found that Asian American applicants had the best academic performance, but received the lowest scores on the personal assessment.
The group’s analysis found that Harvard accepted Asian Americans at lower rates than any other racial group, while giving preference to black and Hispanic students with lower grades. The lawsuit also alleged that Harvard strives to maintain a consistent racial distribution among new students, which the organization says amounts to illegal “racial balance.”
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Harvard denies any discrimination and says it considers the race of candidates only in the narrow way approved by the United States Supreme Court. In close student calls, some underrepresented students may get a “tip” in their favor, school officials say, but student race is never counted against them.
After a three-week trial that shed new light on Harvard’s secret screening process, a federal judge ruled that other factors could explain why Asian Americans are admitted at lower rates than others students. In her 2019 ruling, District Judge Allison D. Burroughs said Harvard’s admissions process was “not perfect” but found there was “no evidence of any animosity whatsoever. racial ”.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court heard arguments in September, but one of the judges, Juan Torruella, died in October before the case was decided. The ruling notes that Torruella heard oral argument but was not involved in the decision making.
The US Department of Justice lawsuit filed briefs in support of the lawsuit, arguing that Harvard goes too far in using race to select students. The Trump administration has also challenged the use of race at other elite schools, including Yale University.
Along with the Harvard case, the Virginia-based students for fair admissions are also pursuing lawsuits to eliminate racial considerations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Texas at Austin.
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