SFFA claimed that the university used subjective standard to weigh certain personality traits including likability, courage and kindness, creating a discriminatory block for them
Harvard, the much sought-after educational institution, is now contesting a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court to defend its admission criteria, reported thequint. The lawsuit has been brought on by SFFA – Students for Fair Admissions – an anti-affirmation action group of students, including many Indian Americans who believe they were ‘wrongly’ rejected by the university.
SFFA has also filed a similar lawsuit against the University of North Carolina, arguments in both of which were heard by the court starting October 31.
SFFA claimed that the university used subjective standard to weigh certain personality traits including likability, courage and kindness, creating a discriminatory block for them.
Harvard University maintained that its admission programmes take account of race to foster educational diversity which is not illegal as per a decades old precedent set by the Supreme Court. In previous decisions, the court ruled that racial quotas were unconstitutional, but race could be used as a factor in admissions to attain a diverse student body provided it wasn’t the conclusive one.
“SFFA’s expert in the Harvard litigation presented to the courts a hypothetical case of an Asian-American male with a 25 percent chance of admission. Changing the applicant’s race to white would increase his admissions chances to 36 percent, leaving all other factors constant. Changing this applicant’s race to Hispanic boosts his chances to 77 percent, while changing to African American would boost his chance of admission to 95 percent.”
— Edward Blum, SFFA’s Founder
A post-graduate student, Vikas explained to thequint why he was part of SFFA’s lawsuit, “They reject a lot of people who are good. Maybe they were not impressed by my essay or extra co-curriculars, but the problem I have with them is that they hold people to different standards. It is more difficult to get in if you are Asian American than White, White than Hispanic, Hispanic than African American.”
SFFA’s Founder Edward Blum, a legal entrepreneur who has brought several lawsuits including against race-conscious admission policies, claimed that most competitive US colleges used race-based affirmative action. “SFFA’s expert in the Harvard litigation presented to the courts a hypothetical case of an Asian-American male with a 25 percent chance of admission. Changing the applicant’s race to white would increase his admissions chances to 36 percent, leaving all other factors constant. Changing this applicant’s race to Hispanic boosts his chances to 77 percent, while changing to African American would boost his chance of admission to 95 percent,” said Blum.
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