For Immediate Release
April 10, 2019
Livingston, New Jersey: Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) is pleased to learn that the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) has entered a resolution agreement with the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to discontinue the use of race and national origin in its admissions policies. This encouraging development reaffirms our continuous efforts in fighting for equal education rights and epitomizes the Federal Government’s willingness to enforce the civil rights laws to eradicate racial discrimination.
TTUHSC’s voluntary commitments to abolishing the race factor in its admissions practices, with a clear timeline and proposals of race-neutral alternatives, directly respond to a 2005 complaint filed by Mr. Roger Clegg of the Center for Equal Opportunity. OCR’s investigation has found that TTUHSC’s School of Medicines employed race-conscious admissions without narrowly tailoring the use of race. OCR also pledges to monitor the college’s implementation of its resolution agreement through periodic reports, other documentation, and site visits.
For decades, tens of thousands of Asian-American applicants have suffered egregious discrimination when applying to medical schools across the U.S. In 2013, Asian-American students had the lowest acceptance rate at these schools across all academic score brackets: among those with average GPAs (3.40 to 3.59) and average MCAT scores (27-29), Asian Americans had a meager 22.5% acceptance rate, compared with 33.2%, 64.1%, and 81% for white, Hispanic, and black students, respectively. In 2018, an average Asian-American medical school matriculant had to score higher in both MCAT (by a maximum of 8.3 points) and GPA (by a maximum of 0.25) than other racial groups. It is time for all U.S. medical schools to reconsider their approaches to recruit talents and deliver educational benefits to all American students regardless of racial background.
AACE president, Mr. Yukong Zhao said: “AACE embraces Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s resolution agreement with the OCR to stop using race in its admissions, as hopeful news for Asian-American children. It is also a positive step towards restoring the American Dream, which promises that every U.S. citizen have an equal opportunity to achieve prosperity and success through hard work, determination, and initiative. We commend the Education Department’s steadfast commitment to enforcing Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that forbids racial discrimination in federally funded institutions.”
Asian American Coalition for Education
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ms. Swann Lee, telephone: (617) 906-6380, email: swanleeca@gmail.com.
Dr. Wenyuan Wu, telephone: (786) 393-8028, email: admin@asianamericanforeducation.org.
About the AACE: www.asianamericanforeducation.org
Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) is a non-political, nonprofit, grassroots national organization, the proven leader in fighting for Asian-American children’s equal educational rights. On May 15, 2015, the founders of AACE united 64 Asian-American organizations and jointly filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to request that they conduct investigations into Harvard University’s discriminatory admissions practices against Asian-American applicants. As the largest joint action taken by Asian-American communities over the last few decades, this complaint is now being investigated by the Justice Department. Over the years, we have advanced the cause of equal education rights for the Asian-American community. In July 2018, the federal government adopted our policy recommendations by rescinding Obama era guidance that promoted racial balancing and acquiesced to racial discrimination in college admissions.