Trump administration sides with Asian-Americans in Harvard ‘racism’ case
‘No American should be denied admission to school because of their race,’ says US attorney general
The Trump administration on Thursday sided with Asian-American students suing Harvard University over the Ivy League school’s consideration of race in its admissions policy.
The lawsuit, filed by Students for Fair Admission on behalf of the students, argues that Harvard discriminates against Asian-American applicants.
The Justice Department said in a court filing that the school has failed to demonstrate that it does not discriminate on the basis of race.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the school has disputed the claims in previous filings.
The US Supreme Court permits colleges and universities to consider race in admissions decisions, but says it must be done in a narrowly tailored way to promote diversity and should be limited in time. Universities also bear the burden of showing why their consideration of race is appropriate.
But in Harvard’s case, Justice Department officials said, the university has not explained how it uses race in admissions and has not adopted meaningful criteria to limit the use of race.