Justice Department Backs Suit on Harvard Admissions

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday filed a brief to formally back a lawsuit that charges Harvard University with discriminating against Asian American applicants.  In a brief filed with the federal district court hearing the case, the Justice Department says that evidence in the case "shows that Harvard provides no meaningful criteria to cabin its use of race; uses a vague 'personal rating' that harms Asian-American applicants’ chances for admission and may be infected with racial bias; engages in unlawful racial balancing; and has never seriously considered race-neutral alternatives in its more than 45 years of using race to make admissions decisions."