Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), a group seeking to fight racial discrimination in academia, has filed a lawsuit against Yale University challenging the school’s discriminatory admissions policy. The group has also filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of its lawsuit against Harvard alleging discrimination agianst Asian-American applicants.
“Yale, Harvard, the University of North Carolina, the University of Texas and many dozens of other highly competitive colleges and universities employ admissions practices that are discriminatory, unnecessary, and unconstitutional,” said SFFA President Edward Blum in a press release.
“Students applying to undergraduate and post-graduate programs should be judged on their individual talents, character, academic skills, extra-curricular achievements and socio-economic background but not the color of their skin,” Blum added.
The lawsuit states that in August of last year, “the United States notified Yale that Yale was in violation of Title VI by discriminating on the basis of race and national origin in its undergraduate admissions.”
“Defendant Yale receives federal financial assistance, including from the United States Department of Justice and other agencies,” the lawsuit adds. “For example, the Department of Health and Human Services alone provides over $630 million in financial assistance to Yale University each year.”
Former President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice conducted an investigation into Yale, which revealed that the university discriminates against white and Asian-American applicants on the grounds of race. But President Joe Biden dropped the lawsuit within his first month in office.
In 2014, SFFA sued Harvard under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, alleging the university’s admissions policies discriminate against Asian-Americans, and give unlawful and unfair preferences to white, Hispanic, and black applicants. SFFA is appealing the Harvard case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“After six and one-half years of litigation, the hundreds of Asian-American students who were unfairly and illegally rejected from Harvard because of their race may soon have this lawsuit reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Blum. “It is our hope that the justices will accept this case and finally end the consideration of race and ethnicity in college admissions.”
“Americans of all races overwhelmingly disapprove of using race as a factor in college admissions,” he added. “The nonpartisan Pew Research Center and others have found that 73% of Americans do not approve of colleges treating applicants differently by skin color or ethnic heritage.”
“Harvard’s pursuit of skin-color diversity cannot justify discrimination directed against Asian-Americans or anyone else,” continued Blum. “Most Americans think it is wrong for individuals to be defined by their race.”
“Racial classifications and preferences in college admissions balkanizes and tribalizes campus life for students and faculty,” Blum concluded. “This case gives the Supreme Court the opportunity to restore the enduring principles of our nation’s civil rights laws, which proclaim that a person’s race should not be used to help or harm them in their life’s endeavors.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.
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