A Milestone Success in the Complaints Against Harvard Discriminatory Admission Practices

    Harvard Complaint    

anonymous-114  05/23   9321  
4.0/1 

Thanks to the altruistic dedication and concerted efforts by members of the Organizing Committee and many volunteers over the past several months, the press conference of the collective complaint against Harvard discriminatory admission practices in Washington D.C. and Irvine, CA, achieved a milestone success.  

1.In the early morning of May 15, 2015, the Organizing Committee officially submitted the Administrative Complaint by e-mail to the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice and the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education.  

2.Three US House Representatives received the Complaint delegates in Washington DC: 

At 2:00 PM, May 14, 2015, House Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) received three delegates in his office and expressed his strong support for the administrative complaint against Harvard. He also instructed his aides to help contact other congress Members for further support; 

At 10:00 AM, May 15, 2015, House Rep., Grace Meng (D-NY) met with all delegates in her Washington DC office; 

At 11:30 AM, May 15, 2015, House Rep., Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Chair of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, met with all delegates in his office (including an Indian American delegate); 

3.At 1: 00-2: 30 PM, May 15, 2015, the press conference of the Administrative Complaint was successfully held at the National Press Club with the attendance by many mainstream English and Chinese media. House Representative Dana Rohrabacher made a personal appearance and a support speech. Answers to the challenging questions from the media by the delegates were "evidence-based, well justified and convincing" (in audience words). A few hours later, more than a dozen English-language media, including almost all the major news media, reported the event (Summary: http://www.asianamericancoalition.org/p17541).   

4.In conjunction, the press conference in Irvine, CA, was also attended by many notable people, including California State Senator Bob Huff and his wife, Ms. Ho Mei Mei, and three CA House Representatives: Young Kim (Korean American), Ling-Ling Chang (Chinese American). Two House Representatives (David Hadley and Don Wagner) and the Mayor of Irvine, Steve Choi, sent their representatives (e.g. David Hadley's Chief of Staff)  to the press conference and spoke to support the complaint. The major Chinese news media in South California were present and a number of ethnic news media (e.g. Indian and Korean) requested for information and promised to report.         

The joint complaint against Harvard University's admission practices by Asian American community has an unprecedented historical significance. With 64 Asian American organizations ( e.g. Chinese, Indian, Korean and Pakistani Americans), it is the largest joint endeavor for educational equity by the Asian community over the past 20 years in the United States. The mainstream media widely and timely reported the event; and the House Representatives as well as the Department of Education have attached great importance to the complaint. As a result, Harvard University's General Counsel had to respond promptly the same day of the press conference. All this has fully demonstrated that, we, the Asian Americans, have united to voice our concerns and to show our determination for educational equity!