How Harvard set the model for affirmative action in college admissions

But even though Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin centers on the public flagship in that state, Harvard’s policy on race and admissions remains very much part of the larger legal battle. Cited repeatedly in the case files, Harvard filed its own “friend of the court” brief in Fisher to support the status quo. It also is the target of a separate lawsuit pending in federal court in Massachusetts that alleges the university engages in unlawful discrimination in admissions against Asian American applicants. The university has denied that allegation.