US probe opened over Harvard's 'legacy' admissions policy

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Harvard University's policy of giving family members of former students and donors preference in admissions decisions, documents showed Tuesday. The probe into the prestigious university's so-called «legacy admissions» policy, a practice used by many colleges across the United States, comes less than a month after a major Supreme Court decision banned the use of race in college application decisions.

That decision, in which Harvard was also one of the targets, prompted fresh debate over the fairness of admissions policies at America's top universities, and the extent to which those policies contribute to inequities. The probe by the Education Department's civil rights wing is in response to a complaint filed by three organizations representing minority students.

They argue that due to Harvard's historically white student body, legacy admissions pulling from alumni discriminate against minority applicants. In their complaint, the groups argue that nearly 70 percent of Harvard applicants with family connections or links to donors are white.

«The boost that the predominately white applicants receive from Donor and Legacy Preferences is substantial,» the groups said in their complaint, adding that the recent Supreme Court decision increased the importance of «rooting out preferences that unjustifiably disadvantage applicants of color.» The groups posted a copy of the Education Department's letter to Harvard stating that a civil rights inquiry had been opened.White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, while not wanting to comment directly on the investigation, said President Joe Biden is generally opposed to legacy admissions. Biden has made clear «that legacy admissions hold back our ability to build diverse student