The National Association of Scholars (NAS) has filed an amicus or friend of the court brief on behalf of the Asian-Americans alleging discrimination at Harvard. “NAS supports the principle that students should be admitted to colleges on the basis of academic achievement, proven ability, ambition, and commitment to learning,” NAS President Peter Wood stated. “Racial identity should play no role in determining who should or should not be admitted, and the same standards should be applied to all individuals.”
“Judgments about good character may be appropriate, but not when they serve as subterfuges to favor or disfavor whole categories of students. Harvard is guilty of racially stereotyping Asian students as lacking ‘positive personality,’ likeability, courage, and kindness, and not being ‘widely respected.’ These are not true judgments of character, but ways of disguising an animus against Asian students.”