Trump Demands the Truth About Affirmative Action

He requires colleges to submit data proving they don’t engage in racial discrimination

By Jason L. Riley. Excerpts:

"According to the memo, “the lack of available admissions data from universities—paired with the rampant use of ‘diversity statements’ and other overt and hidden racial proxies—continues to raise concerns about whether race is actually used in admissions decisions in practice.” A majority of Americans from all racial and ethnic backgrounds supported the Supreme Court ruling, and the administration understands that secrecy in the admissions process undermines trust. “American students, parents, and taxpayers should have confidence that our Nation’s institutions of higher education are recruiting and training our next generations with fairness and integrity.”"

"In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the court upheld this so-called diversity rationale and continued to give great deference to claims by elite schools that they were narrowly tailoring their use of race."

"colleges went out of their way to hide the selection process from public view. In the 1990s, a student whistleblower working in the registrar’s office at Georgetown University discovered that black students were admitted to the law school with significantly lower academic credentials than white students. According to multiple accounts, when the results were reported in a student newspaper, Georgetown officials ordered the confiscation of every copy."

[at Harvard] "the data showed what many opponents of racial preferences long suspected: Black applicants received a significant admissions boost based solely on their racial background, while Asian applicants were penalized for being Asian."

"“After the lawsuit was filed and Harvard came under intense scrutiny for anti-Asian bias, Asian admissions steadily rose."