US divided over college admissions policy

Complaint filed

Some Asian American organizations insist that college admissions should follow a "merit-based principle", arguing that standardized tests are "objective and transparent measures".

The Asian American Coalition for Education, which is based in New Jersey, has long fiercely criticized elite schools for rejecting Asian American students despite their perfect scores in the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

In 2015, the group filed a complaint with the Department of Education and the Department of Justice on behalf of more than 60 Asian American organizations, stating that Harvard and other Ivy League schools use racial quotas to deny admission to high-scoring Asian American students.

The following year, the group's president Yukong Zhao and his son Hubert — at the time a student based in Orlando, Florida, — filed another complaint with the Department of Education after the son was rejected by three Ivy League schools.

Yukong Zhao has been working closely with Edward Blum, a conservative activist and a leader of SSFA, to support the latter's anti-affirmative action agenda. On the organization's website, they list politicians as their supporters, including North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, and California Congresswoman Young Kim — all Republicans.

Other Asian American groups, including the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or AALDEF, dismiss the claim that race-conscious admissions policies discriminate against Asian American students.

The AALDEF submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of 121 Asian American groups and educators in support of Harvard and UNC. An amicus brief may be filed with an appellate court, including a supreme court, by a party not involved with a current case, but in support of one side or another on the legal issue at hand.

Margaret Fung, executive director of AALDEF, said in a statement: "The meritless arguments by SFFA harmfully reinforce the 'model minority myth' of Asian Americans as more successful than other communities of color. This only serves to pit our communities against each other to the express benefit of white students.

"The truth is Asian Americans continue to be underrepresented in higher education and in American society at large. Asian Americans benefit from affirmative action, and all students benefit from the diverse student body that affirmative action cultivates."

Among justices, advocates, politicians and other sectors of society, the nation is divided on the issue.

In December last year, the administration of President Joe Biden submitted a brief for the Harvard case, urging the Supreme Court not to hear the case but to abide by its past decisions. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar told the justices during arguments in October that educating a diverse group of national leaders benefited the military, medical and scientific communities, and corporate America.

In contrast, the administration of former president Donald Trump attempted to discourage affirmative action policies — filing an amicus brief in support of SFFA in February 2020.

Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department sued Yale University in October 2020, alleging it rejected "scores of Asian American and white applicants each year based on their race". The Biden administration dropped the lawsuit in February last year.

A recent poll by The Washington Post produced a contradictory result — 63 percent of US adults said race should not be considered in college admissions, while 64 percent also said programs to boost racial diversity on campuses are a good thing.

At least nine states have passed laws prohibiting affirmative action in university admissions — Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.

Strawbridge, the SFFA lawyer, said that by allowing affirmative action in college admissions, "some applicants are incentivized to conceal their race", and "others who were admitted on merit have their accomplishments diminished by assumptions that their race played a role in their admission".

Educators see profound consequences if affirmative action is banned in college admissions.

Lee C. Bollinger, president of Columbia University, told a recent media conference he would expect his university to feel a significant impact if it was not allowed to consider race.

The effect of a ban would be felt broadly across the country, and that would be tragic, he said. Bollinger added that promoting diversity should not be the only argument for affirmative action in higher education — the rationale of racial justice should also be recognized and embraced.

Natasha Warikoo, a professor of social sciences at Tufts University, wrote in a recent article published by the Brookings Institution, "'Fairness is entirely the wrong question to be asking."

College admissions should be about fulfilling institutions' missions, which include contributing to the public good and promoting social mobility, she said.

"Affirmative action is critical to fulfilling that mission," Warikoo added.