This week, more than 60 Asian-American organizations filed a federal complaint against Harvard University for systematically discriminating against students of Asian ancestry.

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.