Why are some Asian Americans suing Harvard?

 

 

On Wednesday, October 24, at 19:30 GMT:

A federal court in the United States is hearing a lawsuit that alleges systematic discrimination against Asian American applicants to the prestigious Harvard University. The plaintiff, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), has said it is arguing on behalf of Asian Americans who it believes are held to a higher standard in the admissions process. 

Harvard has denied any form of discrimination and defends its admissions criteria, which it says uses race as one of many factors including academics, geography and socioeconomic background.

The court ordered six years of Harvard University admissions documents be turned over for examination in the case. The documents showed lower scores for Asian Americans based on personality and character.

Critics of the lawsuit say SFFA’s ultimate goal is to get rid of affirmative action, or the policies that consider an applicant’s race as a means of increasing diversity in colleges and universities.

The outcome of the case may impact the admissions practices of other universities in the United States.

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Jeannie Park, @parkjeannie
Head of Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance
haaaa.sigs.harvard.edu

Swan Lee, @swanlee99
Co-Founder, Asian American Coalition for Education
asianamericanforeducation.org/en/home

Jang Lee
Student, Harvard University 
raise4acause.org/jang-lee

Roman Khondker, @romank112
College applicant 
romanforct.com

Read more:

Michael Wang didn’t get into Harvard. He thinks it’s because he’s Asian. – BuzzFeed News
Bias against Asian-American students is real. Affirmative action isn’t the problem. – Vox