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Judge: Harvard's admissions policy does not discriminate against Asian-Americans

Posted at 3:05 PM, Oct 01, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-01 16:05:41-04

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Harvard's admissions process does not rule against Asian-Americans.

According to the New York Times, Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that Harvard has a right to make sure its classes are more diverse.

The lawsuit was filed by a non-profit made up of Asian-American students who did not get in to Harvard. The group argued that Asian-Americans consistently score higher on admissions tests, that Asian-Americans were held to a higher standard because they were not accepted at a higher rate.

However, Burroughs reasoned that it was Harvard's choice to diversify its student body and that students who did make it in the school would be better off.

"For purposes of this case, at least for now, ensuring diversity at Harvard relies, in part, on race conscious admissions," the judge said, according to the Times. "The students who are admitted to Harvard and choose to attend will live and learn surrounded by all sorts of people, with all sorts of experiences, beliefs and talents. They will have the opportunity to know and understand one another beyond race, as whole individuals with unique histories and experiences. It is this, at Harvard and elsewhere that will move us, one day, to the point where we see that race is a fact, but not the defining fact and not the fact that tells us what is important, but we are not there yet."