For Immediate Release
November 16, 2020
Livingston, New Jersey: Representing more than 290 Asian-American organizations nationwide, the Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) condemns the ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals on November 12, 2020 regarding Harvard’s anti-Asian discrimination in college admissions.
This ruling ignored overwhelming evidence documenting the school’s egregious anti-Asian discrimination in its college admissions process, which was revealed by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) after reviewing 160,000 application records and interviewing many admissions officers and other stakeholders:
Unlawful Use of Racial Stereotypes: In spite of their exceptional credentials on all objective measures, Asian-American applicants are consistently rated the lowest by Harvard’s personal ratings, which crudely categorize them as unlikeable, indistinguishable, or weak in grit, leadership and risk-taking.
Unlawful Use of Highest Admission Standards: Asian American applicants has the lowest admission rate in every academic brackets. Professor Peter Arcidiacono’s model shows that an Asian American applicant with a 25% chance of admission would see his odds rise to 35% if he were white, 75% if he were Hispanic, and 95% if he were African American.
Unlawful Use of De Facto Racial Quotas: Harvard uses “ethnic stats” and other tools to manipulate the process so that it achieves essentially the same racial balance year over year. If, at the end of the admissions process, Harvard has admitted more (or less) of any racial group than it did the year before, then it reshapes the class to remedy the problem.
Harvard’s Office of Institutional Research in 2013 concluded the College’s admissions process disadvantages Asian Americans: “Asian high achievers have lower rates of admission.”
The ruling is blatant violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is another immoral attempt by America’s ruling class to continue their institutionalized discrimination against Asian-American children and treat them as second-class citizens with regard to educational opportunities. Going forward, AACE vows to support all SFFA’s future endeavors to pursue Harvard and defend equal education rights!
Mr. Yukong Zhao, President of AACE said: “When considering admission decisions, every student should be judged by their merit and content of their character, not by their skin color. The ruling is a shameful attempt to legalize the modern-day racial discrimination against Asian-American children. Asian-American communities will not give up. We call up all discriminated-against Asian-American children to join the fight against Harvard and will continue support SFFA’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court until the racial discrimination against our children are totally banned.”
Asian American Coalition for Education
MEDIA CONTACT:
Swann Lee, telephone: (617) 829-3559, email: swanleeca@gmail.com.
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.