New York sources reported that “No American should be denied admission to school because of their race,” the Justice Department said in a document filed in a Massachusetts court on Thursday to back Asian Americans. “As a recipient of taxpayer dollars, Harvard has a responsibility to conduct its admissions policy without racial discrimination by using meaningful admissions criteria that meet lawful requirements,” said the department headed Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The suit was filed in 2014 by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) on behalf of high-performing Asian students a category that includes Indians who allege that Harvard discriminates against them on the basis of their race. The case is scheduled to be taken up for trial in October. Either way it is decided, the case is expected to have wide repercussions for educational institutions across the US and impact affirmative action programs that are in theory geared to help certain disadvantaged minorities.
Harvard College, the undergraduate institution of
the university that is at the center of the suit, is headed by an Indian
American, Rakesh Khurana. The organizations that complained to the Justice
Department include the Global Organization of Persons of Indian Origin,
National Federation of Indian-American Associations, American Society of
Engineers of Indian Origin, and BITS Sindri Alumni Association of North India.
