Harvard fairer to some than others

The complaint claims, with some evidence, that the prestigious school, which takes a great deal of federal money, has conspired to limit the number of Asians enrolled at any given time to somewhere between 15-18 percent of the student population. The school uses a number of subtle ways to determine Asian ancestry in its admission process — for example, asking applicants’ parents’ place of birth and mothers’ maiden name. The complaint alleges that the school admits more or fewer Asians in any given class to keep the overall proportion stable, suggesting a hidden racial quota system.

With an abundance of qualified Asian-American applicants, such quotas would effectively imply a two-tier admissions process, requiring Asian-American applicants to score substantially higher than their peers in grades and standardized tests. The complaint cites an analysis by Thomas Espenshade of Princeton University, which suggests that in order to have the same odds of admission to Harvard, Asian applicants must on average score 140 points higher on the SAT than the average white student, 270 points higher than the average Hispanic, and 450 points higher than the average black student.

This complaint, which follows up on a lawsuit filed against Harvard in November, comes at a time of increased political activism on this issue. Last year, Asian-American activists in California moved forcefully to block legislators from repealing Proposition 209 — the 1996 referendum that barred state’s public colleges and universities from considering race in their admission processes. Under that color-blind regimen, Asian-American students have rapidly doubled their ranks on the California system’s most prestigious campuses.

Americans have a strong sense of fairness, sharpened by the many dark and uneasy chapters of this nation’s history. Colleges’ efforts to promote racial diversity have mostly been undertaken with good intentions to make up in some small way for those wrongs of the past. But attempts to restore fairness must avoid the pitfall of being “fairer” to some than to others. In an era when racial bigotry is rightly frowned upon as a sign of ignorance, it is amazing that a tacit limitation on the share of Asian-Americans on campus would seem like an acceptable idea at an elite institution of learning such as Harvard.

The worst part of all is the double standard that some applicants’ academic achievements should count for less solely because of where their ancestors were born. No one should have to change their surname or lie about their cultural background in order to be treated fairly. As the complaint notes, other schools have maintained sufficient diversity for a fulfilling academic experience by simply looking at other factors besides race — for example, family wealth.

The common argument against color-blindness in college admissions is that the world is not color-blind, so schools cannot afford to be so either. This gets everything backwards. Historically, going back to the foundations of universities in Medieval Europe, society’s best trends and ideas have quite frequently begun on campus. Scholars, if they presume to be such, must lead if they want the world to follow.

That Harvard would prefer instead to follow the larger world’s flawed ways in this important matter is perhaps a sign that an education there is not all it’s cracked up to be.