For Immediate Release
November 22, 2017
Livingston, New Jersey: After learning that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has started the investigation into the admissions practices of Harvard University for its alleged discrimination against Asian American applicants, Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) issued the following statement, applauding DOJ’s investigation and urging all American colleges to treat Asian American applicants fairly and lawfully.
As the organization that united 64 Asian American organizations nationwide and filed the original 2015 Complaint with DOJ against Harvard University, AACE commends DOJ’s concrete action in response to our civil rights Complaint.
The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees that all American citizens are under the equal protection of the laws. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids racial discrimination in federally funded programs or institutions. Relevant U.S. Supreme Court rulings have specifically banned the use of racial quotas, racial stereotypes and higher standards to unduly harm applicants of any racial groups during college admissions.
However, mounting evidence alerts that Harvard and many other universities fail to observe these laws. They have been using de facto racial quotas, racial stereotypes and higher admissions standards to discriminate against Asian American applicants. After adjusting for extracurricular activities and other factors, an Asian-American applicant has to score on average 140 points higher than a White student, 270 points higher than a Hispanic student and 450 points higher than a Black student on the SAT, in order to have the same opportunity getting into America’s top universities. This blatant and widespread discrimination against Asian American children needs to be stopped.
Mr. Yukong Zhao, the president of AACE said: “It has been more than 10 years since the first Asian American student filed a complaint against Ivy League schools’ discriminatory admission practices. Today, we finally saw that the U.S. government is taking concrete action to strive for equal protection of the laws to Asian American children. This sends a strong signal to many other universities: Please stop unlawful admission practices; treat Asian American students fairly and lawfully. Asian Americans follow the laws, work hard and have been making tremendous contribution to American economic prosperity and technology leadership in the world. Our children deserve to have equal rights to pursue their American dreams!”
MEDIA CONTACT:
Swann Lee, [email protected], (617) 906-6682
About the AACE:
The Asian American Coalition for Education (“AACE”) is a non-political, non-profit, national organization devoted to promoting equal rights for Asian-Americans in education and education-related activities. It is a grass-roots organization established by Asian-American parents. In May 2015, the founders of AACE united more than 60 Asian-American organizations to file a complaint with the Department of Justice and the Department of Education regarding Harvard University’s discriminatory treatment of Asian American applicants. It was one of the largest joint actions ever taken by Asian American organizations in pursuit of equal education rights.
Donation Link: https://asianamericanforeducation.org/en/donate/