Harvard program now allows in White and Asian students
by Virginia Zignego
College Writer
Responding to pressure from two civil rights groups, Harvard University?s Business School has changed how race and ethnicity play a factor in one of its summer programs.
The weeklong Summer Ventures in Management Program previously admitted Hispanic, African American or Native American students. For this summer?s program, the school will also be accepting applicants who are white or Asian American.
The students of Asian American or white heritage must be from traditionally underrepresented areas in college admissions, such as a student who is the first in a family to attend college.
?On March 12, 2003, the Center for Equal Opportunity and the American Civil Rights Institute sent a letter to the business school, requesting exclusive admission programs to be open to all minorities,? Harvard Business School spokesperson David Lampey said. ?The letter suggested our policy might violate Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The letter prompted us to rethink the admission requirements.?
Title VI prohibits any organization receiving federal money to discriminate ?on the basis of race, color or national origin.?
Lampey said the Harvard Business School itself is very diverse, and the program continues to look for people who are highly qualified. Since the class for the summer 2003 program was already set, Harvard implemented the changes to apply to this summer?s applicants.
Lampey said Harvard had 550 applicants for last year?s program, of whom 85 were accepted. Lampey said it is unclear at this point if class sizes will increase.
The program is for college students who have just finished their junior year. Accepted students work for a week at an area business or organization; the business pays for the student?s transportation costs and salary while Harvard covers the student?s tuition, housing and meals.
Roger Clegg, general counsel for the Center for Equal Opportunity, said his organization has contacted nearly 100 schools across the country concerning their racially explicit programs. The majority have agreed to change their admission policies.
?It?s unfair and illegal to exclude students from this program because of skin color,? Clements said. ?This is a step in the right direction. Harvard continues to take race and ethnicity into account with admissions. It?s better not to take race and ethnicity into account at all.?
According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, other schools contacted by the Center for Equal Opportunity regarding racially exclusive programs include Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pepperdine University and Saint Louis University.
Lampey, however, said the program?s ?mission is to provide opportunities for those who would not have a chance at business school normally, and we wanted to do this [program] to encourage people not only to attend Harvard but business school in general?.
Lampey said as the applicants for this summer?s program had yet to be selected, he did not know how the expanded applicant pool affected the numbers of those who applied.
?We?ll have to wait and see if admittance is more competitive due to the influx of applicants,? Lampey said.
