Supreme Court: Harvard's affirmative action case could be heard by this summer

ASAM NEWS

If Harvard gets its way, a lawsuit accusing the university of capping admissions of Asian American applicants could be heard by the summer, reports the Philly Trib

That’s the proposed schedule the Ivy League institution has submitted to the judge.

The plaintiffs in the suit, however, say they need more time and are asking for an October trial date.

Both sides say they are confident of victory with The Students for Fair Admissions say they have “incriminating emails” and Harvard’s own studies to back up their claims.

The university argues it has its own analysis of the data.

“To deliver on our educational mission, our admissions practices consider the whole person, their capacity not only for academic excellence, but also their ability to contribute to and learn from people profoundly different from themselves,” said Harvard spokeswoman Anna Cowenhoven.

Affirmative action is one of the most divisive issues in the Asian American community, with most the opposition coming from newly arrived Chinese immigrants who come from countries that prioritize meritocracy, according to Tablet.

Wesley Yang in his article for the Tablet calls this a defection of Chinese from the Asian American coalition that threatens “the entire system of racial patronage” and the focus on “underrepresented minorities.”