Former Harvard President Testifies as Discrimination Trial Comes to Close

Former Harvard President Testifies as Discrimination Trial Comes to Close

It’ll be fascinating to see how this shakes out. Some people are saying it will go as far as the Supreme Court.

Reuters reports:

As Harvard admissions trial nears end, former president defends school

Former Harvard University President Drew Faust on Thursday rejected claims that the Ivy League school discriminates against Asian-American applicants, saying that doing so would be “totally at odds with what we believe.”

Faust, who stepped down as president in June, made the remarks on the witness stand in Boston federal court, in a closely-watched trial that could have wider implications for the role of race in U.S. college admissions.

The trial, which is expected to end on Friday, has pitted the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university against Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), which was founded by an anti-affirmative action activist and whose case is backed by the Trump administration.

Faust testified that much of her tenure had been dedicated to expanding access to Harvard, saying that financial aid to the elite college was increased under her watch and that several committees examined how to promote racial diversity.

“We’ve made progress, but there’s still work to be done,” she said.

She denied that Harvard discriminated against Asian-American applicants. She noted that 23 percent of Harvard’s current freshman class are Asian-Americans, up from around 3 percent in 1980.

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