A rally has been held to protest against Harvard University’s discriminatory admissions policy.
Xinhua reports that hundreds of Asian Americans held a demonstration in Boston against Harvard University’s admission policy that discriminates on race.
The rally supported a lawsuit against the Ivy League college for “engaging in racial balancing, uses race as far more than a ‘plus’ factor, and has no interest in exploring race-neutral alternatives”. Non-profit group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) are leading the lawsuit.
Last November, Harvard was accused of limiting the number of Asian Americans admitted into the university. The US Justice Department threatened to sue the university if the institution failed to hand over certain records.
Although Harvard, rejected all allegations of any racial bias in their administration process, even the Trump administration supported the lawsuit against the college.
Demonstrators at Sunday’s rally held banners that read, “my race should not hurt me in admissions” and “discrimination in the name of diversity is wrong.”
“For many years Asian Americans have been under the impression that Harvard and other elite universities treat them differently than they do white, African American and Hispanic applicants.”
“So this lawsuit is about ending Harvard’s discriminatory practices that are targeting Asian Americans,” SFFA President Edward Blum said in an interview with Xinhua.
Explaining the aim of the lawsuit Blum added, “the final goal of the lawsuit is to have Harvard stop discriminating against Asian Americans and treat everyone, whites, African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans the same during the admissions process. Yes, Not to use race in their admissions policies. Harvard can achieve diversity without discriminating.”
“Over the decades, reputable journalists, scholars, discriminated-against students and former admissions officers have revealed that Harvard and other selective colleges unlawfully use de facto racial quotas, racial stereotypes, and higher standards to discriminate against Asian-American applicants”, the rally organizers accused in their press release for the rally.”
Co-founder and president of the group Asian American Coalition for Education, a major organizer of the rally, Yukong Zhao criticised the university for giving Asian Americans low personality scores. “Though Asian American applicants are exceedingly competitiveness on all objective measures both in academic and extracurricular criteria, they are consistently rated the lowest by the college’s personality trait ratings,” Zhao said.
“Harvard’s race-based admissions model creates unbearable study burdens, stress, depression and many other serious psychological issues among Asian-American children,” Zhao added.
The #DefendDiversity rally in Harvard square today was beautiful and inspiring. pic.twitter.com/MfqhHzVv3R
— OiYan Poon (@spamfriedrice) October 14, 2018
Hundreds of Harvard students, led by Asian-American students, rally in support of affirmative action #DefendDiversity pic.twitter.com/vVJi407qGf
— Sejal Singh (@Sej_Singh) October 14, 2018
AsianDems AADC MA members joined #DefendDiversity rally in Harvard University today. The trial suing Harvard University starts on Oct 15 in Boston. This lawsuit is about the future of the diversity in the campuses across the country. Chinese Americans s… pic.twitter.com/UwRztS6jg7
— CG (@kellotwt) October 15, 2018