Several of the nation’s top universities are facing threatened lawsuits from anti-affirmative action groups over declining enrollment of Asian American students.
According to the New York Times, Students for Fair Admissions, the group behind the lawsuit against Harvard that ended affirmative action across the US, is threatening to sue Princeton, Yale and Duke for failing to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions, sent letters to schools last week noting the decline in enrollment of Asian American students.
“Based on SFFA’s extensive experience, racial figures are not possible with true neutrality,” the letter, reported by The New York Times, read. “We warn you: Please preserve all potentially relevant documents and communications.”
According to the report, Duke and Yale saw their Asian American student numbers fall by 6 percent from last year. Princeton’s Asian American student numbers fell from 26 percent to 23.8 percent. Black student enrollment remained roughly steady at all three schools.
Experts believe it may be too early to know whether the current statistics indicate a larger trend following the ban on affirmative action.
“It’s disappointing to see Bloom again using old-fashioned scare tactics to try to steer universities away from doing more to give better opportunities to bright and talented students,” said Oiyan Poon, a researcher into university admissions systems.
As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, college admissions offices cannot view the parts of a student’s application that identify their race or ethnicity until after they enroll, though students can share experiences that connect to their racial identity in their admissions essays.
“I think the fight is going to shift from policy to what’s going on in admissions offices,” said Cornell University law professor William Jacobson.
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