Lawsuit v. Harvard to go to trial; Yale admissions under scrutiny

Members of the South Asian Law Students Assocication at Yale University.

ASAM NEWS

THE DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT against Harvard charging anti-Asian bias is set to be heard as scheduled on Oct. 15 while Yale is the target of a new federal investigation following similar allegations.
Reuters reports U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs rejected motions by both sides in the Harvard case to rule in their favor before the trial could even begin.

The lawsuit spearheaded by White anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum accuses Harvard of discriminating against Asian Americans in favor of less qualified applicants from under represented groups.

“The credibility of the expert witnesses in making these critical modeling and analytical choices is best evaluated at the upcoming bench trial,” said Judge Burroughs in her written ruling, reported Bloomberg.

A representative of Harvard told Bloomberg it's looking forward to going to trial.

“Thorough and comprehensive analysis of the evidence makes clear that Harvard College does not discriminate against applicants from any group, including Asian Americans, whose share of the admitted class has grown significantly by 27 percent since 2010.”

Blum declined to comment.

According to Inside Higher Ed, Yale is now also being investigated for anti-Asian bias. The U.S. Department of Education announced the investigation on Wednesday in response to a 2016 complaint accusing Yale, Brown University and Dartmouth College of unfairly denying admission to Asian Americans because of their race.

The cases against Brown and Dartmouth were turned down by the Department of Justice but supported the complainty on Yale because they felt there was a stronger case there. Yale admission of Asian Americans have gone down even though the overall U.S. population of that group has risen.

Yale President Peter Salovey strongly denies the accusatons, saying Yale looks at the complete person when deciding who gets into the Ivy League school.

The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity says Asian Americans are being used by anti-affirmative action forces.

“They are using the complaints of Asian students as a pretext for their efforts to eliminate the use of race as a factor among many to achieve a diverse student body at selective institutions,” said the group’s executive director, Shirley J. Wilcher. 

“In my view, the issue is not between Asian students and disadvantaged minorities; it is between Asian students and those privileged individuals who have historically benefited by being children of alumni, members of families who make financial contributions, graduates of feeder schools, athletes.”

The anti-affirmative action group, Center for Equal Opportunity, applauded the investigation. Speaking about the opposition, the group’s president said “it shows the openness of the administration to pursuing cases against other schools, which means that all schools using preferences need to review their programs,” he said.

Asian Americans make up six percent of the U.S. population, but almost 22 percent of the freshman class at Harvard. Asian Americans make up 35 percent of undergraduates at UC Berkeley which does not consider race and ethnicity in admissions.

Views From the Edge contributed to ths report.
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Harvard honors Lucy Liu for her humanitarian work

Lucy Liu receives her award.

ACTRESS LUCY LIU, an ambassador for UNICEF, was recently honored at Harvard for her humanitarian work.

Liu was named 2016 artist of the year by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. She received the award Feb. 20 in a presentation at the Cultural Rhythms Festival at Sanders Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“Diversity is about unity,” Liu said. “Separation and segregation—that’s about fear and ignorance.”

Liu has raised awareness of the plight of women and children in some of the world’s most impoverished countries and the international child trafficking industry. She has actively supported Women for Women, a nonprofit organization that has helped nearly 430,000 marginalized women in countries affected by war and conflict. And in 2012, she received the Champion of Peace Award for her “unyielding commitment to promote peace, justice, and human rights.”

After receiving the award she stayed to watch the Harvard Foundation’s 31st Cultural Rhythms show which was a multi-cultural presentation by Harvard students, who had an opportunity to be interviewed by Liu.

In her acceptance speech, Liu talked about the responsibility of minority groups to embrace and celebrate their cultural heritage.

“It’s our jobs to present who we are and what we believe in,” she said.

Born to immigrant parents in Queens, New York, Liu has been a UNICEF Ambassador since 2014 and has been a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign. Harvard says she's "worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the plight of women and children in some of the world's most impoverished countries."

The Kill Bill and Charlie's Angels star, one of the best known Asian/American actresses, is currently starring in the CBS series Elementary.

“Today, I think we have all seen onstage the bravery, the absolute joy, the pleasure of presenting who we are, and how we are, with no excuses,” Liu told the performers and audience.

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