[ti:Harvard Accused of Discriminating Against Asian-Americans] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.00]A United States federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, [00:05.19]is hearing a discrimination case against the oldest university in the country. [00:13.37]The nonprofit organization Students for Fair Admissions first took legal action [00:22.41]against Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2014. [00:29.51]It says the school discriminates against Asian-Americans seeking admission. [00:38.45]The legal action accuses Harvard of holding Asian-American students [00:44.79]to higher requirements than students of other races. [00:50.49]It says the university uses "racial balancing" policies [00:56.58]that unlawfully limit how many Asian American students it accepts. [01:03.68]The organization argues that race should not be considered [01:09.32]when deciding which students to accept. [01:13.37]The use of "racial classifications and preferences" is "unfair, [01:20.06]unnecessary, and unconstitutional," the group says on its website. [01:27.22]It accuses the school of discriminating against Asian-Americans [01:33.20]seeking admission by giving them a "personal rating." [01:38.63]Lawyers for Students for Fair Admissions said these ratings [01:44.59]seek to measure personal qualities such as "courage" and "likeability." [01:52.09]Such qualities are measured subjectively, [01:56.08]leaving the process open to discrimination, the lawyers argued. [02:02.17]The group says it has more than 20,000 members, [02:07.00]including students, parents and others. [02:11.65]Harvard denies using discriminatory practices in its admissions process. [02:20.80]The Ivy League school says it uses race [02:24.30]as one of many things it considers in admissions decisions. [02:30.25]It believes considering race can help create a mixed community [02:36.83]"where students from all walks of life" can learn with and from each other. [02:43.65]Education and employment policies [02:47.65]that consider race are known as affirmative action. [02:52.77]Supporters say these policies can help make up for historic, [02:58.70]widespread racial discrimination of minority groups. [03:04.55]Critics have long argued that affirmative action [03:08.78]is unfair to white people and Asian-Americans [03:12.75]who outperform other groups on academic measures. [03:17.82]The U.S. Supreme Court has heard several cases [03:23.59]about affirmative action in recent years. [03:28.22]The Supreme Court's most recent decision on the subject [03:33.21]approved limited use of race in the admission process. [03:38.69]That 2016 decision came from a lawsuit against the University of Texas [03:46.29]that accused the school of discriminating against white students. [03:52.98]Harvard leaders have said the school only considers race [03:58.34]in the way earlier Supreme Court cases have ruled is permitted. [04:04.24]The university has also noted that its share of Asian-Americans [04:10.64]has grown in recent years, reaching 23 percent of the latest first year class. [04:18.89]Harvard reports that 15.2 percent of its most recent first year class is African-American. [04:28.46]Hispanic or Latino students make up 12.3 percent, [04:34.36]while 1.9 percent are Native American. [04:39.53]That leaves a remaining group of mainly white students at under 50 percent. [04:46.66]President Donald Trump's administration supports the argument against Harvard. [04:54.76]In July, the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing [05:00.46]government guidelines meant to increase student diversity at U.S. schools. [05:08.00]The guidelines were developed during the presidency of Barack Obama. [05:14.25]The guidance stated that schools could consider race in admissions decisions [05:21.04]as long as the policies did not violate Supreme Court decisions. [05:27.31]The U.S. Justice Department said it was withdrawing the guidelines [05:33.37]because it considered them "unnecessary or outdated." [05:39.22]Civil rights groups criticized the move and some university officials [05:45.39]said they would continue their efforts toward mixed student populations as before. [05:53.14]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM