America
Indian, Asian groups allege 'racial balancing' in Harvard admissions
By
By Arun KumarWashington, May 16
A coalition of more than 60
Asian-American groups, including four Indian groups, have sought an
investigation into what they allege are "discriminatory practices" in
Harvard University's admission process.
In a complaint filed on
Friday with justice and education departments, the coalition asked that
Harvard be required to "immediately cease and desist from using racial
quota or racial balancing" to admit students.
The authorities
must also "ensure that Harvard and other Ivy League schools will never
again discriminate against Asian-Americans or applicants of any other
races", it said.
The complaint has the support of a number of
Chinese, Korean, Indian and Pakistani-American groups, according to
Yukong Zhao, one of the chief organisers.
Indian groups in the
coalition include the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin
(GOPIO), National Federation of Indian American Associations, BIT Sindri
Alumni Association of North India, and American Society of Engineers of
Indian Origin.
Also included are the Chinese-American
Association of Orange county in California, and the Pakistani Policy
Institute in New York.
"We want to eliminate discrimination of
Asian Americans, and we want procedural justice for all racial groups,"
Zhao told NBC News. "All racial groups should be treated equal."
The
50-page complaint alleged that "Harvard University has engaged
illegally in direct discrimination against Asian-American applicants by
using stereotypes and racial bias in its subjective 'Holistic Evaluation
Approach' and racial quota/rebalancing".
The university, it
further alleged, is discriminating against Asian-American applicants by
using race as a major factor beyond what is allowed by relevant Supreme
Court decisions.
"Consequently, Asian-American applicants have
become the largest group of victims of Harvard's racially based
admissions practices," the group alleged.
Harvard has faced allegations of using race in its admissions process in the past too.
Some
claim that the number of Asian-American students admitted annually has
not kept pace with an overall increase in the Asian-American population.
In
a written statement, Harvard University General Counsel Robert Iuliano
said that Harvard College has a strong track record of both recruiting
and admitting Asian Americans to its school, with the percentage of
admitted Asian Americans increasing from 17.6 percent to 21 percent in
the last decade.
"The college's admissions policies are fully
compliant with the law and are essential to the pedagogical objectives
that underlie its educational mission," Luliano said.
The
statement added that the Education Department had already investigated a
claim similar to the one filed on Friday, finding that the "college's
approach to admissions was fully compliant with federal law".
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])