Harvard University is facing a civil rights investigation into its legacy admissions practices.
The federal civil rights complaint challenges Harvard’s alleged practice of giving preferential treatment in admissions to children of wealthy donors and alumni, Lawyers for Civil Rights said in a statement. The complaint stated that preferences go overwhelmingly to White applicants and systematically disadvantage applicants of color. The complaint said the practices are discriminatory.
Lawyers for the groups — Chica Project, ACEDONE and the Greater Boston Latino Network — say that Harvard’s practice of preferences for legacy admissions illegally discriminated against Black, Hispanic and Asian students in favor of wealthy students who were less qualified.
The filing comes a month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unlawful, curtailing affirmative action in higher education.
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