Page:Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.pdf/114

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STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE

Gorsuch, J., concurring

Brief for Asian American Coalition for Education et al. as Amici Curiae 12–14, 18–19. Paid advisors, in turn, tell high school students of Asian descent to downplay their heritage to maximize their odds of admission. “ ‘We will make them appear less Asian when they apply,’ ” one promises. Id., at 16. “ ‘If you’re given an option, don’t attach a photograph to your application,’ ” another instructs. Ibid.^[1] It is difficult to imagine those who receive this advice would find comfort in a bald (and mistaken) assurance that “race-conscious admissions benefit … the Asian American community,” post, at 60 (Sotomayor, J., dissenting). See 397 F. Supp. 3d, at 178 (district court finding that “overall” Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policy “results in fewer Asian American[s]” being admitted). And it is hard not to wonder whether those left paying the steepest price are those least able to afford it—children of families with no chance of hiring the kind of consultants who know how to play this game.^[2]

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Just as there is no question Harvard and UNC consider race in their admissions processes, there is no question both schools intentionally treat some applicants worse than others because of their race. Both schools frequently choose to

↑ See also A. Qin, Aiming for an Ivy and Trying to Seem ‘Less Asian,’ N. Y. Times, Dec. 3, 2022, p. A18, col. 1 (“[T]he rumor that students can appear ‘too Asian’ has hardened into a kind of received wisdom within many Asian American communities,” and “college admissions consultants [have] spoke[n] about trying to steer their Asian American clients away from so-called typically Asian activities such as Chinese language school, piano and Indian classical instruments.”).
↑ Though the matter did not receive much attention in the proceedings below, it appears that the Common Application has evolved in recent years to allow applicants to choose among more options to describe their backgrounds. The decisions below do not disclose how much Harvard or UNC made use of this further information (or whether they make use of it now). But neither does it make a difference. Title VI no more tolerates discrimination based on 60 racial categories than it does 6.

[1] See also A. Qin, Aiming for an Ivy and Trying to Seem ‘Less Asian,’ N. Y. Times, Dec. 3, 2022, p. A18, col. 1 (“[T]he rumor that students can appear ‘too Asian’ has hardened into a kind of received wisdom within many Asian American communities,” and “college admissions consultants [have] spoke[n] about trying to steer their Asian American clients away from so-called typically Asian activities such as Chinese language school, piano and Indian classical instruments.”).

[2] Though the matter did not receive much attention in the proceedings below, it appears that the Common Application has evolved in recent years to allow applicants to choose among more options to describe their backgrounds. The decisions below do not disclose how much Harvard or UNC made use of this further information (or whether they make use of it now). But neither does it make a difference. Title VI no more tolerates discrimination based on 60 racial categories than it does 6.

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