The Supreme Court’s decision to effectively end race-based admissions at colleges and universities was a landmark in the fight to achieve race-neutral opportunities in education.
Now, the next big civil rights battle in college admissions is forming and this time, the foes who fought against affirmative action may find themselves on the same side.
Most elite schools have rules — written and unwritten — regarding so-called “legacy admissions” where parents or generations of family members have attended an elite school and their progeny receive preferential treatment in admissions. The left-wing Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a complaint against Harvard University with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of three minority student organizations alleging that legacy admissions discriminate against applicants of color.
“We see this complaint as a critical piece of how universities will move forward,” said Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights. “It is critical that they think not only about affirmative action, but also about the racial disparities triggered by the donor and alumni preferences.”
A growing number of lawmakers and advocacy groups say it is time for the practice to end. Following the court’s ruling last week, President Biden suggested colleges should rethink the practice, saying they “expand privilege instead of opportunity.” Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle including Sen. Tim Scott (R, S.C.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), expressed similar sentiments.
A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment on the complaint Monday.
Former Harvard President Larry Summers said last week in an opinion piece in the Washington Post that it is time for elite colleges to do away with legacy preferences and “take a hard look at admissions preferences for those who excel in ‘aristocrat sports’ and resist being impressed by those who have benefited from high-priced coaching through the admissions process.”
If colleges shouldn’t give preference to applicants of color — and they shouldn’t — they shouldn’t give preference to the children of rich, white parents who have either contributed millions of dollars to the school or attended the elite institution themselves.
The Journal reports that “surveys have shown that about half of the private schools and a smaller percentage of public schools use” legacy as a factor in admissions.
Indeed, Duke President Vincent Price defended the practice in a speech last year.
“We’re an institution that was made in a family—the Duke family. We bear the name of that family. We represent family, we talk about family, so how does that translate into the way we behave?” Price said. “The idea that you would ban legacy admissions, or ban any particular factor as a consideration, is troublesome.”
In fact, Price is talking through his hat. Most Americans oppose legacy admissions. “Nearly three-quarters of 1,680 adults polled by AP-NORC said legacy either shouldn’t be considered at all or shouldn’t be too important in consideration for admission to college,” according to the Journal.
A National Bureau of Economic Research analysis found legacy and donor-related applicants were more likely to be admitted to Harvard than those without that standing. That analysis, cited in the complaint, found that close to 70% of legacy applicants were white, compared with about 40% of other applicants. Legacy applicants were more than five times as likely to be admitted than non-legacy applicants, according to the analysis.
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A lot of rich, important people lean on legacy admissions to get their underachieving kids into college. One such case was Joe Biden calling the president of the University of Pennsylvania to get his granddaughter accepted at the school.
In 2018, Hunter Biden tapped his father and a number of Biden family connections to help get his daughter into the University of Pennsylvania. Text messages and emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop, reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, show how Joe and Hunter Biden worked behind the scenes to get a subpar family member into one of the most selective schools in the country.
Maisy Biden’s college admissions process could raise a number of uncomfortable questions for the president. The saga highlights exactly the kind of “legacy admissions” Biden has slammed. The story also highlights the Biden family’s occasionally shady dealings with the University of Pennsylvania just as congressional Republicans are probing alleged ethical misconduct by both Joe and Hunter Biden.
Given the cost and importance of a college education, the playing field should be as level as possible for all. Legacy admissions damage the chances of white kids just as much as they damage opportunities for minority kids. It’s long past time for such favorited admissions to end.
