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[quote=Anonymous]Harvard is presumably good at it's objective of assembling a class of students who will function well together during school years and achieve afterwards in ways that bring distinction and funds to Harvard.  Harvard has succeeded at this for nearly 400 years - and more importantly, has successfully adapted to major changes over the years in demographics, culture, wealth, and politics in the U.S.  There are currently (and likely have always been) significant differences between the make up of the general population and Harvard's class - e.g. Jews reportedly make up more than 20% of the Harvard class and approximately 2% of the general poplulation - Asians are reported as 17% of Harvard's class and 6% of the general population (this is not to argue definitions of ethnicity, religion, regional distinctions among Asians etc.).  So Harvard's "secret sauce" is NOT to utilize some simple algorithm to select a class that largely represents the larger society or success on standardized tests (or even in particular school activities).  This is the basis for the lawsuit.

Why are we concerned with this?  Does Harvard serve the larger society by assembling a class that encourages and inspires successful leaders, innovators, researchers, teachers etc.?  Would Harvard remain as successful if the admissions criteria were changed?  Why do we believe that a judge can determine the appropriate way to assemble a class when Harvard has proven successful for hundreds of years?  If a new process is imposed and Harvard's reputation suffers than the alumnae and the larger society will be harmed.  Harvard is a private institution and would likely give up any federal funds it receives if required to adhere to some regulated admissions process that threatened to undermine its standing.  And why is it of concern that Asian-Americans are "under" represented and others "over" represented? There are schools that assemble classes on no more than simple test scores (e.g. CalTech) and great state schools that must admit on basic criteria that are largely disclosed, and many other opportunities for bright students to study - so rejection from Harvard imposes no significant harm on the ambitious student.

What is the point of threatening one of our pre-eminent educational institutions?[/quote]

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