Harvard University was accused by minority groups of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by giving preferential treatment in the admissions process to children of alumni and wealthy donors, days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the use of race-based affirmative action policies.
“Each year, Harvard College grants special preference in its admissions process to hundreds of mostly White students — not because of anything they have accomplished, but rather solely because of who their relatives are,” the groups said in a complaint filed Monday with the U.S. Department of Education.
The Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England, and the Greater Boston Latino Network seek an investigation into Harvard’s use of donor and legacy preferences in admissions and a formal declaration that the university will lose federal funds if it doesn’t end the practice. The groups also want Harvard to ensure that applicants with family ties “have no way to identify” themselves in the admissions process.
The complaint comes as the U.S. continues to grapple with the fallout of the Supreme Court’s ruling ending affirmative action, which was used by universities to diversify campuses after decades of racially discriminatory admissions practices. Harvard defended affirmative action and said it would find other ways to ensure diversity.
Harvard’s practice violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act because about 70% of legacy admissions are White, according to the complaint.
“Because Harvard only admits a certain number of students each year, a spot given to a legacy or donor-related applicant is a spot that becomes unavailable to an applicant who meets the admissions criteria based purely on his or her own merit,” the groups said in its filing.
The university receives “substantial federal funds” and is therefore bound by landmark civil rights law, which “forbid practices that have an unjustified disparate impact on the basis of race,” the groups said.
