Justice Dept. Slams Harvard Admissions in Affirmative-Action Filing

Harvard University’s consideration of Asian-American applicants “may be infected with racial bias,” the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday in a court filing that marked an escalation of the continuing battle over affirmative action.

The department’s statement of interest, which supports the conservative activist group Students for Fair Admissions Inc., accuses Harvard of systematically discriminating against Asian-Americans in an effort to balance the racial composition of its student body, a practice the department called “unlawful.”

The department’s ideological alliance with the plaintiffs was not surprising in a debate that has flared during Donald J. Trump’s presidency. But it is the first formal comment from the federal government on the case, which has opened windows into Harvard’s admissions procedures.

Among the department’s concerns, according to the filing, is the “personal rating” of applicants, which results in Asian-Americans’ receiving “the lowest scores of the four largest racial groups.” It said the university should seriously consider race-neutral alternatives. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Harvard’s decision not to do so runs afoul of existing law.

Sessions said in a written statement that because Harvard receives taxpayer money in the form of federal student aid, the university must “conduct its admissions policy without racial discrimination” and use “meaningful admissions criteria.”

“The record evidence demonstrates that Harvard’s race-based admissions process significantly disadvantages Asian-American applicants compared to applicants of other racial groups — including both white applicants and applicants from other racial minority groups,” the filing reads.

In a statement, the university denied discriminating against any group and pledged to defend the legal right of any institution to consider race as a factor in the college admissions process. A spokeswoman said the statement was not surprising given the department’s recent repeal of Obama-era guidance on affirmative action.

“We are deeply disappointed that the Department of Justice has taken the side of Edward Blum and Students for Fair Admissions, recycling the same misleading and hollow arguments that prove nothing more than the emptiness of the case against Harvard,” a spokeswoman, Anna Cowenhoven, wrote in an email.

The university’s lawyers have previously said the plaintiff’s assertions about bias against Asian-Americans are based on “gerrymandered statistics.”

University records show that race is among several nonacademic factors that Harvard considers in freshman admissions. Others include an interview, extracurricular activities, personal qualities, alumni relations, and work experience. Admitted first-year students for this fall were culled from a pool of nearly 43,000 applicants. Twenty-two percent of the admitted students are Asian-American, 15 percent are black, and 11 percent are Hispanic.

The Justice Department accused Harvard of manipulating the makeup of its incoming classes “to produce an admitted class that replicates its desired racial balance year in and year out,” even while asserting that “it employs no racial numerical goals.” Admissions officials do not receive guidance on how to use race in making decisions, according to the filing.

Students for Fair Admissions filed its lawsuit in 2014 and represents Asian-American applicants that Harvard rejected.

Edward J. Blum, who leads the group, helped craft the recent lawsuit challenging the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions practices. The Supreme Court in 2016 upheld UT-Austin’s use of race in admissions in a 4-to-3 decision. The expected rightward turn of the court, however, has cast doubt on just how settled that precedent is.

Update (8/30/2018, 4:06 p.m.): This article has been updated with a statement from Harvard University.
Lindsay Ellis is a staff reporter. Follow her on Twitter @lindsayaellis, or email her at lindsay.ellis@chronicle.com.