Asian-Americans allege discrimination by Ivy League varsities

Over 130 groups filed a complaint against Yale, Brown University and Dartmouth College

A coalition of more than 130 Asian-American organisations, including two Indian-American groups, have sought an investigation into admission practices of the prestigious Yale University and two other Ivy League institutions, alleging that they discriminate against students from the community on racial grounds.

Indian-American groups — the American Society of Engineers of National Capital Chapter and the Global Organisation of Los Angeles Chapter — have joined over 130 Asian-American groups and got the complaint filed on Monday by Asian-American Coalition for Education (AACE) group against Yale, Brown University and Dartmouth College with the US departments of education and justice.

The complaint alleges, “Although discrimination by elite colleges against Asian-American students is widespread, AACE and the joining organisations are bringing this complaint against the three named Ivy League Colleges because Brown University and Dartmouth College have maintained the lowest admission rates for Asian-American students, while Yale University not only maintains a relatively low admission rate for Asian-American applicants, but also engages in destroying admissions records at its law school,” the complaint said.

In May last year, a similar complaint was filed against Harvard University by a coalition of 64 Asian-American groups alleging that the Ivy League institution discriminated against Asian-American applicants in its admissions process and “unfairly” rejected well-qualified students for their race.

The complaint further alleged the Asian-American college population in the US has grown from 2.5 per cent in 1995 to 5.1 per cent in 2011, during which the percentage of Asian-Americans at Yale and other Ivy League colleges has declined because of “negative stereotyping with racial quotas and caps, maintained by racially-differentiated standards for admission that severely burden Asian-American applicants”.