The complaint contends that Harvard and other Ivy League colleges racially discriminate against Asian-Americans during the admissions process.
Dozens of Asian American groups filed a federal discrimination complaint against Harvard University Friday, alleging racial discrimination in the admissions process.
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According to the complaint:"Many Asian-American students who have almost perfect SAT scores, top 1% GPAs, plus significant awards or leadership positions in various extracurricular activities have been rejected by Harvard University and other Ivy League Colleges while similarly situated applicants of other races have been admitted.
... In recently [sic] years these trends have become more and more severe. They are widely reported by various Asian-American web bloggers and other media."
"It is well known that Asian-American [college] applicants have to score higher points than white students to be considered for admission," Swann Lee, President of the Boston Forward Foundation and one of the original members of the group behind the complaint, told BuzzFeed News. "They're a minority. It just doesn't make sense that they are supposed to score higher than the majority population in this country."
The complaint is directed primarily at Harvard's undergraduate division. It was filed with the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education, as well as the Civil Rights Division of the Department for Justice.
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Chinese-American groups comprised the majority of the 64 organizations in the "Coalition of Asian-American Associations," though Indian, Pakistani, and Korean groups were included as well.
A large portion of the Coalition's complaint was devoted to the debunking of Asian-American stereotypes, which the coalition says they consider a large contributor to Harvard's discrimination.
According to the complaint:
"It is a great irony that while America's economy needs Asian immigrants whose educations were built upon a proper emphasis on academic performance, some American newsmedia and individuals blame Asian-American students for putting too much emphasis on academics, creating the social stereotype that Asian-American children are 'nerds.'"
Lee, who has two young children, remarked on the vicious cycle these stereotypes create. "I don't feel my son is smarter than kids of other races," she said. "He doesn't like studying ... he likes to play. But eventually he will have to spend more time studying than his peers, just to have the same opportunities. How can that be fair?"
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1e7w8Nw
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