My name is Edward Blum and I am the president and founder of Students for Fair Admissions. In 2014, Student for Fair Admissions sued Harvard and the Univ. of North Carolina in federal court alleging both school\u2019s admissions policies were unfair and unconstitutional. When we filed those lawsuits this organization only had about 100 members, today we have close to 23,000 members.<\/p>\n
We could not have achieved this growth without the help of many of the people who sponsored this rally. So, on behalf of our 23,000 members, I would like to thank YuKong Zhou, SB Woo, Yingchou Liu, Alex Chen, Lin Yang, David Wang, Jessica Zhang and May Meng for the dedication and sacrifice you and your organizations have made to make today\u2019s event possible.<\/p>\n
As you all know, tomorrow begins a 3-week trial that will expose Harvard\u2019s discriminatory policies targeting Asian Americans to the federal court and the American people. I\u2019m going to tell you about those practices in a minute, but before that, I want to talk briefly about Harvard University.<\/p>\n
Let me begin by saying there is far, far more to admire about Harvard than to dislike about Harvard.<\/p>\n
From the Krokodiloes\u2014Harvard\u2019s men\u2019s acapella group\u2014to the Dana-Farber Institute at Harvard Medical School, this university is an American gem\u2014one of the most important academic institutions in the world.<\/p>\n
We are not here to bash Harvard, or any other university. We are here because Harvard\u2019s admissions policies are discriminatory. And we have petitioned the courts to compel Harvard to stop these unlawful practices.
\nAs we all know, our country is unique. Unlike most nations, we Americans have diverse backgrounds and diverse histories.<\/p>\n
Some of us here today trace our roots back to Ireland and Italy and Mexico where famine and poverty drove our ancestors to this country.<\/p>\n
Some of us here today have forbears who came to this land shackled in slave ships from West Africa.<\/p>\n
Some of us here today trace our roots back to the ghettos of Poland and Ukraine where the devastation of world war and the Holocaust brought our parents or grandparents to this country.<\/p>\n
And some of us are here today because you fled the tyranny and repression of Tiananmen Square.<\/p>\n
So, regardless of where you or parents or your great, great, great grand parents came from, we are here today to reclaim the cornerstone of America\u2019s civil rights movement.<\/p>\n
And that cornerstone is the proposition that your race and ethnicity should not be used to help
\nyou, or harm you, in your life\u2019s endeavors.<\/p>\n
Your race and ethnicity should not be a factor when you apply for a job or are considered for a
\npromotion. Neither should race be a factor in determining which congressional district you
\nshould be assigned to; nor to strike you from serving on a jury.<\/p>\n
And race and ethnicity should not be a factor when a student applies to a university like Harvard
\nor the University of North Carolina or the University of Texas, or any university.<\/p>\n
In a multi-racial, multi-ethnic nation like ours, the admissions\u2019 bar cannot be raised for some
\nraces, and lowered for others.<\/p>\n
We do not believe that students are defined by their skin color, sex, or ethnicity. Your race may
\ndefine how you look, but it does not define who you are.<\/p>\n
Your skin color does not reveal your likes and dislikes, whether you are an outgoing person or
\nmore of an introspective one; a leader or more of a follower; or whether you are passionate about
\nsports or passionate about modern jazz.<\/p>\n
A student can change her grades, standardized test scores, AP classes and out of school activities.
\nBut she cannot change her race and ethnicity—those are immutable, cosmetic characteristics.
\nEvery one of us is a unique individual and we must be judged as such.<\/p>\n
Let me be clear: The mission of Students for Fair Admissions is to end racial classifications and
\npreferences in college admissions. This is not a controversial goal. The American people support
\nus. In poll after poll, over 70% of Americans do not believe that a student\u2019s race should be a
\nfactor in the admissions process.<\/p>\n
During the next three weeks, the court and the world will learn how Harvard has systematically
\ndiscriminated against Asian-American applicants for years.<\/p>\n
But, sadly, this is not a new phenomenon: The history of Harvard\u2019s holistic discriminatory
\npractices goes back nearly 100 years. As dozens of historians have detailed, back in the 1920s,
\nHarvard\u2019s leadership believed it had too many Jews because almost a quarter of all Harvard
\nfreshmen were Jewish.<\/p>\n
In 1920, in a letter to a colleague, Harvard President Abbott Lawrence Lowell warned that the
\nincreasing number of Jewish students enrolling at Harvard would ultimately \u201cruin the college.\u201d<\/p>\n
To solve the Jewish overpopulation problem, Harvard invented the \u201cholistic\u201d admissions system,
\nwhich diminished an applicant\u2019s academic achievements in favor of subjective factors like
\n\u201cleadership\u201d and \u201csociability.\u201d Within a year, holistic admissions criteria decimated Jewish
\nenrollment.<\/p>\n
Today, Harvard\u2019s discriminatory policies now target Asian-Americans.<\/p>\n
How do we know this?<\/p>\n
During the last 4 years of litigation, Students for Fair Admissions has analyzed 6 years of
\nHarvard\u2019s admissions data; we have deposed about 30 Harvard officials; and we have reviewed
\nthousands of emails and documents.<\/p>\n
Here is what the evidence concludes:
\nFirst-Harvard intentionally discriminates against Asian-American applicants.<\/p>\n
Second-Harvard racially balances its incoming freshman class to ensure a certain racial
\npercentage for whites, Hispanics, African-Americans and Asian- Americans.<\/p>\n
Third- Race is not a minor factor, but is a predominant admissions factor.<\/p>\n
And finally-Harvard never made any good-faith effort to use race-neutral means to shape its
\nfreshman class.<\/p>\n
Not only did our experts conclude that Harvard\u2019s admissions practices harm Asian-Americans,
\nbut so did Harvard\u2019s own internal experts. Yes, you heard that correctly. Harvard concluded it
\nwas discriminating as well.<\/p>\n
In 2013, a year before SFFA filed this lawsuit, Harvard\u2019s internal think tank conducted a study
\nthat was disclosed to Harvard\u2019s senior administrators showing that Harvard\u2019s policies harmed
\nAsian- Americans.<\/p>\n
Rather than address the study\u2019s results, Harvard\u2019s leaders killed it and then buried it. It is one
\nthing to be unaware of an injustice, but to have an internal report detailing discrimination and not
\ndo anything about it is simply unpardonable.<\/p>\n
As disturbing as this is, there is one fact about Harvard\u2019s admissions policies that is even more
\nupsetting.<\/p>\n
And that is how Harvard\u2019s in-house admissions officials rate Asian-Americans in what is called
\nthe \u201cpersonal rating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asian-American applicants are significantly stronger than all other racial groups in academic
\nperformance\u2014such as grades, test scores, AP classes and the like. They also perform very well
\nin non-academic categories and have higher extracurricular scores than any other racial group.<\/p>\n
In addition, Asian-American applicants receive higher overall scores from alumni interviewers
\nthan all other racial groups. And they receive strong scores from teachers and guidance
\ncounselors\u2014scores that are nearly identical to white applicants.<\/p>\n
Yet Harvard\u2019s in-house admissions officials assign Asian-Americans the lowest personal score
\nof any racial group.<\/p>\n
Harvard consistently rated Asian-American applicants lower than whites, Hispanics and African-
\nAmericans on traits like positive personality, likability, courage, kindness and being widely
\nrespected.<\/p>\n
This is gravely unsettling regardless of your position on race-based affirmative action. Most
\nAmericans have come to reject racial stereotypes like these as they should.<\/p>\n
When you treat and judge individuals differently because of their race, it frays the social fabric
\nof a college campus, which will ultimately fray the social fabric of a nation.<\/p>\n
Let us always remember that a university is more than the sum of its ethnic parts. Students
\nshould celebrate their commonalities as much as their differences.<\/p>\n
Let me close by saying that, regardless of the outcome of this trial, the movement to end racial
\nclassifications and preferences in college admissions will not end. I am confident that the next
\ngeneration of leaders are in this very gathering here today and I ask that you commit to this
\nworthy goal for the benefit of all Americans.<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mr. Ed Blum’s Speech at Boston My name is Edward Blum and I am the president and founder of Students for Fair Admissions. In 2014, Student for Fair Admissions sued Harvard and the Univ. of North Carolina in federal court alleging both school\u2019s admissions policies were unfair and unconstitutional. When we filed those lawsuits this…<\/p>\n