Harvard defends admission practices, calls enemy a "wolf"

Harvard University has described the organization, which challenges its race-based admissions process, as a "wolf" eager to turn back on racial diversity, the last day of a three-week trial that could end the use of positive discrimination on university campuses.

"The wolf of racial prejudices is actually on our doorstep; we are asking the court to dismiss the wolf, "William Lee, a Harvard lawyer, said Friday.

Students for Fair Admissions, which sued Harvard claiming that the college was discriminatory against American applicants of Asian descent, is targeting a campus where black and Hispanic students are significantly reduced, Lee said.

"More than 1,000 students of color would become – as invented by the plaintiff's own expert – the" losers "in admissions," said Lee, referring to the decline in the number of black and Latino students at Harvard in the context of an admission process without distinction of race. "If this is true, we all lose."

The case concerns the treatment of American-Asian candidates by Harvard and the question of whether university admissions officers are biased against them, said Adam Mortara, a lawyer for Students for Fair Admissions.

Mortara objected to him being described as having a racial bias and defended Edward Blum, founder of Students for Fair Admissions and trial architect, as well as a previous judicial remedy against discrimination. positive in higher education.

"It was enough for me to sit in court and listen to Edward Blum and, by extension, all of our team members were subtly accused of being the wolf at the door of racial prejudice. as if we had a racial prejudice. Said Mortara in front of the Moakley courthouse in the Boston Seaport district at the end of the lawsuit. "Edward Blum is not a racist."

It will probably be several months before Judge Allison Burroughs makes her decision. Both parties indicated that they would appeal if they lost and kept their eye on the Supreme Court, where many legal experts are waiting for the case to be decided.

The case has attracted a lot of attention in the last few weeks. Law students from local colleges and Asian-American families in Lexington visited the courtroom to observe the proceedings. Chinese media covered the case and an attorney from the US Civil Rights Bureau of the Justice Department, which investigates both discrimination at Harvard and Yale universities, attended the trial every day.

Internal documents, emails, and data presented during the test shed light on Harvard's usually secret admission process, revealing how money, family ties, race, and Personality influenced how the oldest and most prestigious university chooses about 2,000 students from a pool of candidates over 40,000 per year.

But in the end, the case will be largely based on the data, which will give several days of testimony that resembles an academic presentation on statistical analysis, with discussions of the coefficients, regression models, and observed and unobserved variables. observed.

Students for Fair Admissions argues that its analysis of Harvard admissions data over six years shows that the college's use of personal assessments, which measure ownership, leadership and liveliness, discriminates against students. against American candidates of Asian origin. Obtaining a high personal ranking is essential to enter Harvard, where a large number of candidates have academic skills and are active in sports and clubs.

According to Students for Fair Admissions, only 22% of US applicants of Asian origin and the United States earned a high personal rating, compared to about 30% of Caucasian candidates. The best Black and Hispanic candidates at Harvard were even more likely to get high personal ratings. The organization pointed out that an internal analysis by Harvard staff prior to the trial also raised questions as to whether Americans of Asian origin were at a disadvantage.

"The bias infiltrated the system, leaked," said John Hughes, a lawyer at Students for Fair Admissions, in his closing remarks. If the personal score is influenced by race, the models indicate that Americans of Asian descent are subject to a penalty and that "the statistical case is over," Hughes said.

But Harvard has accused students for fair admissions of data mining and leaving out key aspects of the intake process in his analysis. Harvard stated that admissions officials took into account more than 200 variables to assess students, grades to students, based on Harvard parents' attendance, shopping and where they lived.

Students for fair admissions, for example, did not include parental occupation or what the student intended to study, Harvard explained.

Harvard stated that his own analysis revealed no racial bias and that despite low personal scores, Americans of Asian descent or donor origin were more likely than white students to 39, enter the university. Harvard asked how admissions officers could discriminate Americans of Asian descent in one group and give them an advantage in another situation.

"How do you implicitly discriminate against a person and implicitly discriminate against someone?" Asked Lee, describing the allegations as inconsistent.

None of the 20,000 members of Students for Fair Admissions testified during the trial. Asian-American students who were denied admission to Harvard in the complaint remained anonymous and Students for Fair Admissions did not submit their admission records in evidence.

The American-Asian supporters of the case against Harvard, however, carried signs outside the courthouse stating: "I am an American of Asian origin. I also have a dream "and" Harvard: no more racial stereotypes ".

Several current and former students of the Harvard minority have testified during these three weeks to advocate for positive action and the benefits of diversity.

On Friday, Burroughs acknowledged the historic nature of the case and said she was aware that her decision would likely have a significant impact on the lives of American students.

"I take the load seriously," said Burroughs.

Deirdre Fernandes can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @fernandesglobe.