Harvard sued for discriminating against Asian American applicants
One of the world’s top universities defends a civil rights-era policy that seeks to lift up black and Hispanic minorities, but Asian Americans allege it penalises them for their race.
One of the world’s best-known universities is being sued for discriminating against Asian American applicants.
Harvard University in the United States is denying discrimination.
At the heart of the case is affirmative action legislation, intended to counter the centuries of exclusion of minorities from higher education, that allows universities to include race as a factor when considering the applications of students from underrepresented groups.
The result of the legal battle, which is due to begin in Boston, could influence admissions to US universities for years to come.
Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro reports from Cambridge, Massachusetts.