Weeks after rebuffing charges of discrimination against the Asian students in a court filing, the Harvard University has once again found itself in the dock.
On Thursday, the United States Department of Justice filed a statement of interest before the court and alleged the school of rating applicants of Asian-American origin lower on leadership and ability scores.
“The record in evidence demonstrates that Harvard’s race-based admissions process significantly disadvantages Asian-American applicants compared to applicants of other racial groups— including both white applicants and applicants from other racial minority groups,” the Justice Department filing reads.
The prestigious university was sued in 2014 by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) for allegedly preferring whites, blacks and Hispanics at the expense of more deserving Asian American students.
In June, the organization filed documents in a Massachusetts federal court indicating that the university had analyzed the admissions policy in 2013.
Last month, the school dismissed the analysis as “deeply flawed” based on “cherry picked” documents and says the organization has no proof of discrimination against it.
“Students for Fair Admissions is gratified that, after careful analysis of the evidence submitted in this case, the US Department of Justice has concluded Harvard’s admissions policies are in violation of our nation’s civil rights laws,” said Fair Admissions president, Edward Blum.
“We look forward to having the gravely troubling evidence that Harvard continues to keep redacted disclosed to the American public in the near future,” he added.
The latest filing by the Justice Department strengthens the position of Fair Admissions in the case which is scheduled to go to trial on October 15 later this year.