Harvard faces lawsuit from civil rights activists over legacy admissions

The (SCOTUS) ruled against affirmative action on June 30. The highest court in the United States ruled that both Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC) will no longer be able to use race for their admissions processes. Days later, the aftermath of the Court's decision began to arrive.

It turns out that a civil rights activist group sued Harvard over legacy admissions, alleging that the priority in the college application process to children of alumni or applicants related to wealthy donors pushes white students over students of color.

"Every year, Harvard College gives special preference in its admissions process to hundreds of mostly white students, not because of anything they have accomplished, but solely because of who their relatives are," states the complaint, filed Monday by Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR)based in New England.

"The students receiving this preferential treatment, based solely on family ties, are mostly white. Nearly 70% of donor-related applicants are white, and nearly 70% of legacy applicants are also white," the text added.

As reported by The Daily Wire, the university had between 2014 and 2019 an acceptance rate of 6%, although it enrolled 33% of legacy applicants (relatives of alumni) and nearly 47% of applicants who were children of faculty or staff.

The complaint was filed by the aforementioned group on behalf of Chica Project, African Community Economic Development of New England and Greater Boston Latino Network, with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, alleging violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of the LCR, released a statement strongly criticizing the university. For example, he wrote that "Harvard has no birthright" and that the Supreme Court's ruling regarding "eliminating racial discrimination,""means eliminating all of it."

"There should be no way to identify who your parents are in the college application process. Why are we rewarding children for the privileges and advantages accrued by previous generations? Your family name and the size of your bank account are not a measure of merit and should have no bearing on the college admissions process," he added.