Harvard sued for 'racism' against Asian-Americans

The 388-year-old institution is being sued by Students for Fair Admissions. Pic/Harvard Staff Photographer Jon Chase

The prestigious Harvard University in the US racially discriminated against Asian-American students by rating them lower than others applicants on traits like "positive personality," according to a lawsuit against one of the Ivy League schools.

The 388-year-old institution is being sued by Students for Fair Admissions, an action group, for discriminating against Asian applicants, the New York Times reported. The group commissioned an analysis of admission data of more than 1,60,000 applicants who applied for admission from 2000 to 2015, which showed that Asians were given lower scores on "personality" traits - likability, courage, kindness and being "widely respected".

Asian-Americans scored higher than applicants of any other racial or ethnic group on admissions measures, like test scores, grades and extracurricular activities. But the students' personal ratings significantly dragged down their chances of being admitted, the analysis found. In response, Harvard commissioned its own study, which described the report as "incomplete and misleading".

"Thorough and comprehensive analysis of the data and evidence makes clear that Harvard College does not discriminate against applicants from any group, including Asian-Americans, whose rate of admission has grown 29 per cent over the last decade," Harvard said in a statement.

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