For years, reporters have been trying to get elite universities to be more transparent about their admissions process. It might take a court to pry it all open — with unforeseen consequences
By Josh Gerstein | POLITICO
The long war over affirmative action turned hot again last week, as Harvard and lawyers for Asian-American applicants duked it out in a federal courtroom in Boston in a closely watched case that could end consideration of race in college admissions.
I’m a veteran of that war. Nearly three decades ago, as a student, I was at the vanguard of a movement that took no side in the then-intense debate over affirmative action but advocated for something more radical than it might first appear: breaking down the secrecy over how elite colleges choose whom to admit to their ranks.
Winning the chance to attend an Ivy League school is an increasingly daunting feat. If schools aren’t just going to auction spots to the highest bidder, these colleges (which receive millions in federal funding and a slew of tax benefits) have a moral responsibility to defend their admission policies. Students, parents, faculty and alumni are also entitled to know that the schools’ claims about how they dole out the coveted slots aren’t just hot air.
