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Harvard on Trial

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.
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.

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.