Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard Challenges the College’s Race-Conscious Holistic Admissions Policy
WASHINGTON, D.C.
– The national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the
Boston-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice,
Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), and pro bono counsel, Arnold
& Porter, today filed an amicus curiae, “friend of the court,” brief
in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to support
the defendant’s motion for summary judgement in the lawsuit challenging
Harvard’s race-conscious holistic admissions policy (Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard).
The
coalition is participating as special “amicus plus” status and
represents a cohort of racially diverse applicants, current students,
and alumni at Harvard College including African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American students.
“Forty
years of precedent affirms the constitutionality of a university’s
limited use of race in college admissions,” said Kristen Clarke,
president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law. “Harvard’s holistic, individualized consideration of
race addresses the pervasive inequalities that persist across our
society. Any efforts to reverse this approach is a threat to colleges
and universities nationwide.”
“The
consideration of race is an important aspect of a university's holistic
review process and is essential in building a dynamic learning
environment,” said Nicole Ochi, supervising attorney at Asian Americans
Advancing Justice - Los Angeles. Despite what Edward Blum and Students
for Fair Admissions claim, Asian Americans benefit from race-conscious
holistic review; in fact, the majority of Asian Americans support
affirmative action policies. Asian Americans Advancing Justice will not
stand for our communities being used as a cover to end affirmative
action, which would have devastating effects on all communities of color
-- including Asian Americans.”
“Arnold
& Porter is pleased to be working with our clients and other groups
who encourage programs to ensure diverse student populations in
universities,” said Lawrence Culleen, partner at Arnold & Porter. “Such
programs are especially important in our nation’s most selective
institutions. We are proud to stand with our clients and collaborate
with our colleagues in the legal community to defend these principles.”
“These
students stand together because they – and many of their white peers –
know the need for meaningful representation of all communities of color
in a place as powerful as Harvard,” said Matt Cregor, education project
director at the Boston-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and
Economic Justice. “If these future leaders graduate with a better sense
of who we are together, then I have greater hope for who we can be as a
country.”
The students’ brief will address three issues:
- The students affirm that ethno-racial diversity produces distinct benefits which are educational, personal, and professional;
- Students explain how Harvard’s current affirmative consideration of race complies with the parameters set forth by the Supreme Court: it is individualized, flexibly appreciates all forms of diversity, and does not treat race as a predominant factor, and;
- Students affirm that Harvard’s vested interest in promoting greater representation of, and diversity within, students of color compels the continued consideration of race.
In
2014, the anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions
orchestrated the lawsuit against Harvard, claiming its race-conscious
admissions policy intentionally discriminated against Asian Americans
and violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Today’s amicus filing follows a recent move by
the U.S. Department of Education to rescind the guidance documents that
explain the parameters of affirmative action in higher education, and action by the U.S. Department of Justice involving
race-conscious admissions policies in the higher education context,
including investigations into the diversity efforts of Harvard College,
among others.
About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), a
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request
of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing
legal services to address racial discrimination. Now in its 55th year,
the Lawyers’ Committee is continuing its quest to “Move America Toward
Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice
for all, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, fair housing and
community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and
voting rights. For more information, please visit https://lawyerscommittee.org
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