Statements Archives - ��Admissions Case

A message from President Claudine Gay

william — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 16:17:01 +0000

Dear Members of the ��Community,

A few hours ago, the Supreme Court issued its decision in our admissions case – a decision that carries weight not only for ��as an institution, but for many of us as individuals. Today is a hard day, and if you are feeling the gravity of that, I want you to know you’re not alone. Please take a moment to .

A message to the community

Sincerely,

Claudine Gay
President of ��University

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Supreme Court Decision

william — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 15:29:01 +0000

Dear Members of the ��Community,

Today, the Supreme Court delivered its decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of ��College. The Court held that ��College’s admissions system does not comply with the principles of the equal protection clause embodied in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Court also ruled that colleges and universities may consider in admissions decisions “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” We will certainly comply with the Court’s decision.

We write today to reaffirm the fundamental principle that deep and transformative teaching, learning, and research depend upon a community comprising people of many backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences. That principle is as true and important today as it was yesterday. So too are the abiding values that have enabled us—and every great educational institution—to pursue the high calling of educating creative thinkers and bold leaders, of deepening human knowledge, and of promoting progress, justice, and human flourishing.

We affirm that:

Because the teaching, learning, research, and creativity that bring progress and change require debate and disagreement, diversity and difference are essential to academic excellence.
To prepare leaders for a complex world, ��must admit and educate a student body whose members reflect, and have lived, multiple facets of human experience. No part of what makes us who we are could ever be irrelevant.
��must always be a place of opportunity, a place whose doors remain open to those to whom they had long been closed, a place where many will have the chance to live dreams their parents or grandparents could not have dreamed.

For almost a decade, ��has vigorously defended an admissions system that, as two federal courts ruled, fully complied with longstanding precedent. In the weeks and months ahead, drawing on the talent and expertise of our ��community, we will determine how to preserve, consistent with the Court’s new precedent, our essential values.

The heart of our extraordinary institution is its people. ��will continue to be a vibrant community whose members come from all walks of life, all over the world. To our students, faculty, staff, researchers, and alumni—past, present, and future—who call ��your home, please know that you are, and always will be, Harvard. Your remarkable contributions to our community and the world drive Harvard’s distinction. Nothing today has changed that.

Sincerely,

Lawrence S. Bacow
President, ��University

Alan M. Garber
Provost, ��University

Meredith Weenick
Executive Vice President, ��University

Claudine Gay
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
President-elect, ��University

Tomiko Brown-Nagin
Dean, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study

Nancy Coleman
Dean, Division of Continuing Education and University Extension

George Q. Daley
Dean, ��Medical School

Srikant Datar
Dean, ��Business School

Emma Dench
Dean, ��Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Francis J. Doyle III
Dean, ��John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Douglas Elmendorf
Dean, ��Kennedy School of Government

William V. Giannobile
Dean, ��School of Dental Medicine

David N. Hempton
Dean, ��Divinity School

Rakesh Khurana
Dean, ��College

Bridget Terry Long
Dean, ��Graduate School of Education

John F. Manning
Dean, ��Law School

Sarah M. Whiting
Dean, Graduate School of Design

Michelle A. Williams
Dean, ��T.H. Chan School of Public Health

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Statement from Students in Support of Race Conscious Admissions

graymilkowski — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:51:46 +0000

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Statement by President Bacow regarding Harvard’s July 25 legal filing

melissa — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 20:06:00 +0000

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Statement on the SCOTUS Case

melissa — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 20:52:00 +0000

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court announced that it would hear legal challenges to Harvard’s admissions process, which currently considers race as one factor among many. The ��Black Men’s Forum supports Harvard’s admissions process and strongly believes in the importance of creating a diverse campus community. This lawsuit threatens to undermine efforts at ��and universities across the country to diversify their student populations and increase access to institutions of higher learning. As supported by multiple legal victories in lower courts, Harvard’s admissions process is constitutional and works to create a diverse academic and social experience for all students. In closing, the ��Black Men’s Forum urges the Supreme Court to support Harvard’s admission process.

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Defending Diversity from Sherri Ann Charleston

melissa — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 21:32:34 +0000

Dear Members of the ��Community,

On Monday, the Supreme Court decided to hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging nearly a half-century of consistent legal precedent affirming race-conscious admissions policies in American colleges and universities. Many members of our community are disheartened at this news, as am I. It was only a week ago that we were called to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King. In doing so, we invoked his words and will do so again: “The time is always right to do right.” Now is the time for courageous leadership.

Today, I write to join President Bacow ) in reassuring you that our University has never been more committed to defending diversity, the soundness of our admissions processes, and the belief that diversity of all kinds—including race—provides educational benefits.

I encourage you to get the facts and learn more about the . This site will be updated regularly with news, statements, and other information about the lawsuit. For those interested in learning more about how to support this effort, please be on the lookout for additional information.

We know that diverse learning environments improve scholarship, interpersonal understanding, and provide a microcosm of global diversity here on campus. And we know that race is only one of many aspects of a person’s identity and experience, and it is only one of many factors considered in ��admissions. I am immensely proud of the work that has been done by ��College Admissions and across the University to help create the diverse work and learning environment that we now enjoy. Diversity is our pathway to excellence, and we will continue to protect the benefits we now enjoy. This will be the foundation for Harvard’s excellence for centuries to come.

We remain confident, as were the who heard the case already, that our practices are not discriminatory and are consistent with Supreme Court precedent. There is no evidence that warrants a different outcome. I encourage all of you to join us in the ongoing work of ensuring that ��is as diverse and inclusive a place as it can be.

The months ahead will require leadership, a resolute commitment to our values and to each other. Although I am saddened that we must, once again, defend diversity, continue we must. The moral arc of the universe will bend, but only if we bend it. I look forward to continuing to build our beloved community—together.

In community,

___________________
Sherri Ann Charleston
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer

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SCOTUS Statement from President Bacow

melissa — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 14:54:28 +0000

The Supreme Court decision to review the unanimous decisions of the lower federal courts puts at risk 40 years of legal precedent granting colleges and universities the freedom and flexibility to create diverse campus communities. Considering race as one factor among many in admissions decisions produces a more diverse student body which strengthens the learning environment for all. The US Solicitor General rightfully recognized that neither the district court’s factual findings, nor the court of appeals’ application of the Supreme Court’s precedents to those findings, warrants further review. ��will continue to defend vigorously its admissions practices and to reiterate the unequivocal decisions of those two federal courts: ��does not discriminate; our practices are consistent with Supreme Court precedent; there is no persuasive, credible evidence warranting a different outcome. The University remains committed to academic excellence, expanded opportunity, and diverse educational experiences—and to the perennial work of preparing students for fruitful careers and meaningful lives.

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Harvard: Statement on United States Department of Justice brief to Supreme Court

Staff — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 18:00:00 +0000

��strongly agreee with the United States that neither the district court’s factual findings, nor the court of appeals’ application of the Supreme Court’s precedents to those findings, warrant further review. The Solicitor General is rightfully reaffirming that all universities, including Harvard, should have the freedom and flexibility to consider race, as one factor among many, to create the diverse campus communities essential to their educational missions and to the success of their students in the workplace and the world.

Now is not the time to reverse the unequivocal decisions of two federal courts reinforcing 40 years of Supreme Court precedent.

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Harvard: Statement on SCOTUS opposition brief

melissa — Mon, 17 May 2021 19:08:00 +0000

��cites decades of legal precedent and recent court decisions to establish the Supreme Court should not again review college admissions policies considering race as one factor among many

��today (5/17) filed a brief in the Supreme Court of the United States opposing a petition filed by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), which asked the Court to reconsider nearly 40 years of legal precedent supporting the limited consideration of race as one factor among many in college admissions and to review two lower court decisions concluding that Harvard’s admissions process fully comports with applicable precedent. As Harvard’s brief explains, SFFA provides no good reason for the Court to revisit its precedent or the lower court decisions, especially given the petition’s disregard of the lower courts’ findings and distorted presentation of the relevant facts.

“After years of discovery, SFFA produced no persuasive evidence to support its legal claims. The court of appeals found no error in the district court’s meticulous explanation of how it resolved the disputed facts and applied the relevant law. SFFA is not entitled to battle out the facts a third time in this Court. And it identifies no unsettled legal issue meriting review.”

BACKGROUND

After a lengthy trial, including testimony from 30 witnesses, a federal district court completely rejected SFFA’s arguments that ��College discriminates against Asian-American applicants. The district court concluded that ��College’s admissions process comports with the Supreme Court’s precedents governing race-conscious college and university admissions policies and does not discriminate against Asian-American applicants. The First Circuit upheld those findings and conclusions as firmly grounded in the trial record and precedent.

SFFA filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking the Court’s review of these decisions. The brief filed today by ��responds to that SFFA petition. The Court is expected to decide next month whether to take the appeal.

SUMMARY: BRIEF IN OPPOSITION

The Admissions Process & Current Litigation

The ��brief summarizes the ��College admission process aimed at creating the diverse student body essential to its educational mission. The brief also reviews the current litigation, originally filed by SFFA, that claimed ��discriminates against Asian-American applicants, engages in racial balancing, gives race too much weight, and eschews workable race-neutral alternatives. The district court rejected all of these claims, concluding:

“…��has a compelling interest in pursuing the educational benefits of diversity, finding ‘[t]he evidence at trial …[makes] clear that a heterogeneous student body promotes a more robust academic environment with a greater depth and breadth of learning, encourages learning outside the classroom, and creates a richer sense of community.”

Further, the district court concluded that Harvard’s admissions process comports with Supreme Court precedents, and in that process, the consideration of race is narrowly tailored to achieve the educational benefits of diversity. A federal appeals court upheld the lower court’s decision.

No Reason for Review, No Discrimination.

The ��brief reviews the conclusion of the district court, affirmed by the appeals court, that ��College does not discriminate against Asian-American applicants, and further, that ��does not engage racial balancing, does not give race too much weight, and has no workable race-neutral alternatives available.

“SFFA attempts to portray Harvard’s process as an example of race-conscious admissions gone awry. But the narrative SFFA presents was rejected by the district court in detailed factual findings upheld by the court of appeals. This Court will not reverse such ‘concurrent findings’ of two lower courts absent ‘a very obvious and exceptional showing of error’… SFFA cannot come close to making that demanding showing.”

“Unable to seriously challenge the rejection of its claims under existing law, SFFA asks the Court to overrule more than forty years of decisions regarding the limited consideration of race in university admissions… SFFA falls far short of providing a ‘compelling’ reason…for the Court to repudiate that precedent…”

“Having failed to make the case that Harvard’s admissions practices contravene the Court’s precedents governing the use of race in admissions, SFFA asks the Court to overthrow them. But SFFA offers no legitimate justification for such an extraordinary step—particularly in a statutory case such as this. If Congress wanted to amend Title VI to prohibit private universities from considering race in admissions, it could do so, but it has not.”

SFFA Offers Recycled, Rejected Arguments

The ��brief notes repeatedly where SFFA, in its petition to the Court, offers recycled arguments that were completely rejected by the district court and the appeals court.

“Students for Fair Admissions’ (SFFA’s) petition recycles allegations both courts rejected and offers a thoroughly distorted presentation of the record.”

“SFFA tries to sidestep the lower courts’ findings by proffering its own version of the record… But SFFA’s unreliable portrayal of the facts fatally undermines its case for review.”

“SFFA’s petition is based on a misleading depiction of the proceedings below, rests on factual assertions the lower courts squarely rejected, and ignores the contrary findings.”

Importance of Diversity

The ��brief reinforces the importance of diversity at colleges and universities and the ability of these institutions to create student bodies diverse along many dimensions, including race. And, it quotes from prior Supreme Court decisions that have concluded the same. ��considers diverse campus communities essential to its mission to educate “citizens and citizen-leaders for our society.”

“For more than four decades, this Court has recognized that universities have a compelling interest in pursuing the educational benefits that flow from student bodies that are diverse along many dimensions, including race.“

“Diversity ‘promotes cross-racial understanding, helps to break down racial stereotypes,’ ‘enables students to better understand persons of different races,’ produces ‘livelier, more spirited, and simply more enlightening and interesting’ classroom discussion, ‘promotes learning outcomes,’ and ‘better prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce and society.’… It also provides substantial societal benefits, including ‘cultivat[ing] a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry,’ by making clear that ‘the path to leadership [is] open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.’”

“…prohibiting consideration of race now would lead to substantial declines in diversity on many college campuses, with significant adverse effects on the educational experiences of all students.”

“Endorsing SFFA’s view at this moment in our Nation’s history—when the need to cultivate greater tolerance, acceptance and understanding is particularly acute—would be a tragic mistake.”

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Harvard: Statement on U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion

melissa — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 19:10:00 +0000

�մǻ岹��’s��decision once again finds that Harvard’s admissions policies are consistent with Supreme Court precedent, and lawfully and appropriately pursue Harvard’s efforts to create a diverse campus that promotes learning and encourages mutual respect and understanding in our community. As we have said time and time again, now is not the time to turn back the clock on diversity and opportunity.

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Statements Archives - ��������Admissions Case