Federal Civil Rights Investigation: Harvard’s Legacy/Donor Admissions

Lawyers for Civil Rights welcomes the news we received from the U.S. Department of Education that it has formally opened a federal investigation into our civil rights complaint, which challenges Harvard’s discriminatory practice of giving preferential treatment to children of wealthy donors and children of alumni.  As our complaint outlines, these unfair and undeserved preferences are bestowed overwhelmingly on white applicants and systematically harm applicants of color, in violation of federal anti-discrimination law.

We are gratified that the Department of Education has acted swiftly to open this investigation.  Harvard should follow the lead of a growing number of colleges and universities — including Amherst, MIT, Johns Hopkins, the University of California, and most recently Wesleyan — and voluntarily abandon these unfair and undeserved preferences.  But if Harvard does not, we will move forward expeditiously in prosecuting our complaint.  

Immediately following the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decisions, President Biden publicly called upon federal agencies to investigate unfair barriers that stand in the way of equal opportunity for students of color.  The Department of Education’s swift action in opening this investigation demonstrates that it is heeding that call. 

Federal anti-discrimination law is clear: federally-funded institutions may not utilize unfair and unjustified preferences that harm qualified students of color.

Click here for the letter from the U.S. Department of Education:

Harvard-Complaint-Case-01-23-2231