HR 17

WHEREAS, Harvard University, one of the nations oldest, most prestigious postsecondary educational institutions, employs unconstitutional race-based admissions policies that disadvantage Asian American student applicants; and

WHEREAS, Statistical evidence shows that Harvard University holds Asian American student applicants to a far higher standard than other student applicants in the student enrollment process and that Harvard University uses racial classifications to engage in the same brand of invidious discrimination against Asian Americans that it formerly used to limit the number of Jewish students enrolled in its student body; and

WHEREAS, A recent lawsuit filed against Harvard University by Students for Fair Admissions cites an Asian American student applicant who was denied admission to Harvard University despite being valedictorian of a competitive high school, achieving a perfect ACT score and a perfect score of 800 on two of the SAT II subject exams, and participating in numerous extracurricular and volunteer activities; and

WHEREAS, This highly qualified student applicant was denied the opportunity to compete for admission to Harvard University on equal footing with other student applicants due to his race; and

WHEREAS, Harvard University has maintained roughly the same proportion of Asian American students to other ethnic groups for years despite changes in application rates and qualifications, and only the use of race or ethnicity as a dominant factor in admissions decisions could account for the remarkably low admission rate for high-achieving Asian American student applicants; and

WHEREAS, In 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin that an applicants race should only be considered in the admissions process when student body diversity cannot be achieved through other means; and

WHEREAS, There are race-neutral policies that Harvard University can use to achieve diversity in its student population, including limiting legacy preferences, increasing financial aid to attract minority students, and giving preference based on socioeconomic measures or ZIP Codes; and

WHEREAS, Other postsecondary educational institutions have acknowledged that if they used a race-neutral plan by which they automatically admitted the top 10 percent of each high school class in their state, they would actually increase their minority enrollment; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly calls upon Harvard University to end its focus on a student applicants race in its student enrollment process and to instead consider the overall individual contribution of each student candidate in a manner that does not have the practical effect of capping the number of Asian American students enrolled in its institution; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.