A coalition of 64 Asian-American groups filed an official federal complaint against Harvard University and other Ivy League schools on May 15, accusing those universities of racial bias in their admission practices, according to U.S. media reports.
In a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education and the Justice Department, the coalition said that the Ivy League schools have set admission quotas that keep the numbers of Asian-American students much lower than the academic achievements of many of these students. The coalition alleges that Asian-Americans have the lowest admission rates at Harvard University of any racial group, despite having some of the highest test scores and levels of academic achievement.
"We want to eliminate discrimination of Asian-Americans, and we want procedural justice for all racial groups," Zhao Yukong, one of the chief organizers of the coalition, told NBC News. Michael Wang, an Asian-American student currently enrolled at Williams College, said at the press conference that he was denied admission to Harvard and other prestigious schools due to his race, despite his outstanding academic achievement and extracurricular activities. He scored 2,230 out of 2,400 on the SAT and received a perfect score on the ACT. The SAT and ACT are exams used in the United States to assess academic aptitude and preparedness for college.
Harvard's general counsel Robert Iuliano said the university's admissions policies are "fully compliant with the law" in a statement issued in response last Friday. "Harvard College has demonstrated a strong record of recruiting and admitting Asian-American students. For instance, the percentage of admitted Asian-American students admitted to Harvard College has increased from 17.6 percent to 21 percent over the past decade," the statement read.
Asian students are sometimes viewed as being able to achieve high scores on standardized tests while being less creative than their peers of other ethnic backgrounds. But Zhao Yukong, the coalition organizer, said these stereotypes are not true. "Nearly half of the tech start-ups in the country were started by Asian-Americans. Every one is a great example of creativity and risk-taking and leadership," Zhao asserted.
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