About 200 students, alumni, and employees of Harvard U. gathered in Harvard Square on October 14, 2018, as a lawsuit challenging the university’s use of race in admissions was about to open in federal court in Boston.Pat Greenhouse, The Boston Globe via Getty Images
A trial over the race-conscious admissions policy of Harvard University could have lasting implications for selective colleges across the country. The lawsuit, brought by a nonprofit group called Students for Fair Admissions, claims the university discriminates against Asian American applicants by limiting the number of those students it admits.
The case challenges a common practice among selective institutions that is meant to ensure that they admit diverse groups of students, and it is unusual because it invokes the rights of Asian American applicants instead of white ones. It is also the first case since the Trump administration took office to challenge affirmative action. Legal analysts say the issue is likely to make its way back to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is more conservative than when it last considered the issue.
Here is detailed background on the case and coverage of the trial as it unfolded, in a federal court in Boston beginning in October 2018. The presiding judge ruled a year later.
News
The reach into the admissions world of training to avoid implicit bias has been limited, and some question how it could be carried out.
News
While Harvard, which won a judge’s approval of its race-conscious admissions policies, lags in its representation of black and Hispanic students, it far outpaces other four-year institutions over all in its representation of Asian Americans.
Affirmative Action
The challenge, from Students for Fair Admissions, may still end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Win for Diversity
The university’s race-conscious admissions process does not discriminate against Asian American students, Judge Allison Burroughs ruled.
Admissions
Both sides in a closely watched legal battle over race-conscious admissions made closing arguments in federal court on Wednesday. The judge heard allegations of discrimination — and several Orwell references.
Admissions
A lawsuit filed in California on Thursday seeks admissions and enrollment data from the University of California system.
Admissions
Attacks on “academic whackos,” public floggings, and impugned motives have all been a part of the university’s tortured debate over whether race-conscious admissions disadvantage Asian applicants.
From the Archives
Students for Fair Admissions, which alleges that Harvard discriminates against Asian-American applicants, forced the university to reveal the inner workings of its admissions process. But what did all the evidence add up to?
Admissions
It’s inevitably awkward to explain the inner workings of a long-secret system, but especially so for the gatekeepers of an elite university. Opinions vary among observers, but now only one matters: the judge’s.
Admissions
The plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing the university of bias against Asian-American applicants wanted to question the official about recently disclosed guidelines for considering race in admissions.
Admissions
David Card, a Berkeley economist, on Wednesday continued his defense of Harvard’s admissions process. Then he got an earful of tough questions from a lawyer who says the university discriminates against Asian-American applicants.
Admissions
In the legal battle over the university’s treatment of Asian-American applicants, one researcher calls another’s methods “completely nonsensical.”
Admissions
Current and former students on Monday described why race matters in admissions.
Admissions
Thang Q. Diep, a student who immigrated from Vietnam, explains why he got involved in the case, and says the plaintiff is harboring “an ulterior motive.”
Admissions
In the midst of a trial over alleged bias against Asian-American applicants, the university’s revised guidelines for admissions officials became public.
Admissions
A scholar hired by the group that sued Harvard, claiming it discriminates against Asian-American applicants, testified at the trial on Thursday. The university’s economist disputes his findings.
Admissions
An economist and expert for Students for Fair Admissions put together a report that says Harvard’s admissions process discriminates against Asian-American applicants. An expert for Harvard says it’s not that simple.
Admissions
In testimony on Wednesday, the halfway point of the three-week trial, three officials testified that they do consider race, but it is never a negative factor for applicants.
Admissions
Data showing how the university’s admissions process favors wealthy students is stark. But Harvard is by no means an outlier among its peer institutions.
Admissions
However the judge rules, both sides seem to be preparing for an appeal in a lawsuit challenging the university’s admissions process.
Admissions
William Fitzsimmons’ testimony revealed a lot about how the university selects applicants. It also revealed something about the dean — and the complex job he has held for 32 years.
Admissions
As a trial in Boston entered its second week, a higher-education expert testified that the university could achieve its desired racial diversity without considering race in admissions.
Admissions
After the first week of a trial in which the university’s use of race in admissions decisions has been under attack, the strategies of each side are starting to come into focus.
Admissions
Admissions officials defended their process in the fourth day of a trial in which the university has been accused of discriminating against Asian-American applicants.
Admissions
The document, made public in a lawsuit challenging the university’s race-conscious admissions process, suggests that interviewers steer clear of questions about test scores.
Admissions
The third day of testimony in a trial challenging the university’s admissions policies revealed new details about the once-secretive process. Harvard has been accused of discriminating against Asian-American applicants.
Admissions
William R. Fitzsimmons, who has led the university’s admissions program for more than 30 years, was questioned on Tuesday by lawyers in a case that is challenging Harvard’s race-conscious policy.
Admissions
In a packed courtroom, the lawyer representing critics of the university’s undergraduate admissions policy said, “Diversity is not on trial here.” Harvard’s lawyer suggested that without such a policy, the courtroom would not be as diverse as it is.
Admissions
The latest front in the fight over affirmative action opens in a federal courtroom in Boston and could have lasting implications for colleges nationwide.
Admissions
Some students and alumni are worried that their voices will be left out of the high-profile trial.
News
The department’s support for the plaintiffs was not unexpected in a debate that has flared during Donald Trump’s presidency.
News
A lawsuit accusing the university of discriminating against Asian-American applicants reached a pivotal point on Friday, when previously confidential documents describing Harvard’s admissions process were revealed.
News
Barely a year after the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to issue its final word on this form of affirmative action, the issue is back, following a Justice Department memo that seemed to promise Trump-administration investigations of colleges. Here’s all of The Chronicle’s coverage.