AACE Urges Colleges Faithfully Implement SCOTUS’ SFFA Rulings and Restore Meritocracy in College Admissions
On August 25, 2023, the Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE), a national organization that advocates for equal rights and opportunities in education, issued a comprehensive policy statement titled “It’s Time for All American Colleges to Restore Meritocracy in Their Admission Processes,” urging all American colleges to faithfully implement SCOTUS’ SFFA rulings and restore meritocracy in college admissions.
In the statement, AACE reiterates the importance of upholding equal opportunity and meritocracy in America, from both the standpoint of advancing social justice and maintaining America’s technological and economic competitiveness.
As a response to the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice’s guidance titled “Questions and Answers Regarding the Supreme Court’s Decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard College and University of North Carolina,” AACE policy statement sharply criticizes the Biden Administration’s attempt to use race proxies unlawfully circumvent the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on SFFA v. Harvard/UNC.
To comply with the Supreme Court rulings, AACE requires colleges to:
Stop using race or ethnicity in the application process
Adopt a blind rating approach
Treat each applicant as an individual and not as a member of any racial group when considering their experiences
Handle student race data lawfully and make it inaccessible by admissions officers or other participants of student evaluation during the admissions process
Eliminate the use of proxies for race or ethnicity, such as geographic areas of residence, zip code, family background, school districts, or names of individual schools, throughout the admissions process
Keep admissions data for at least seven years, in line with the statute of limitation for civil rights violations
In addition, AACE has proposed the following policy recommendation to restore the meritocracy in college admissions:
Base their admissions criteria on their educational program, not woke ideologies
Rely on objective measures in admissions, especially standardized tests
Cease the use of legacy and other favoritism programs, which are immoral and should be illegal
Finally, AACE urges American governments at the federal, state, and local levels to take concrete measures to address the root causes of the failing K to 12 education system in American inner cities.
Mr. Yukong Mike Zhao, the president of AACE said: “When our nation is faced with unprecedented competition from international rivals, it is imperative to restore meritocracy in our educational institutions in order to maintain America’s technological and economic competitiveness. The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark rulings on SFFA v Harvard/UNC cases provided a historical opportunity for American colleges to correct their admissions processes back to equal treatment of all applicants and meritocracy.
AACE and our partnering organizations will continue to actively monitor colleges and universities’ admissions practices. Any use of race or race proxies during college admissions is a blatant violation of the Supreme Court’s rulings and will trigger legal action, to include class action lawsuits and demands for damages and injunctive relief.”
