[ti:Judge Rules Harvard Does Not Discriminate against Asian-Americans] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A U.S. federal judge ruled Tuesday that Harvard University's admission policy [00:07.70]does not discriminate against Asian-American students. [00:14.52]Judge Allison Burroughs said that although Harvard's admission program [00:20.12]is "not perfect," it "passes constitutional muster." [00:26.56]The judge wrote in her decision that creating "diversity at Harvard [00:32.37]relies, in part, on race conscious admissions." [00:38.80]She added there is no evidence that any admission decision [00:44.05]was "negatively affected by Asian-American identity." [00:50.62]The group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) brought legal action [00:58.55]against the Ivy League school in 2014. [01:04.04]SFFA says it will appeal the decision to a higher court. [01:11.00]Edward Blum, the group's president, said in a statement [01:15.80]that the evidence SFFA presented during the three-week trial [01:21.96]"revealed Harvard's systemic discrimination against Asian-American applicants." [01:30.36]Harvard did not immediately answer requests for comment. [01:37.36]The SFFA argued that Harvard held Asian Americans to a higher standard in admissions. [01:47.00]The group said the Ivy League school gave preference to black and Hispanic students with lower grades. [01:56.99]The SFFA centered its argument on a subjective "personal rating" that Harvard gives to applicants. [02:08.04]The group claimed Asian Americans often receive lower personal ratings than black and Hispanic applicants. [02:19.16]This, SFFA said, led to the rejection of Asian American applicants who had stronger academic records. [02:32.20]In a 2013 internal report, Harvard found that if the school weighed applicants based only on academic records, [02:43.41]43 percent of the admitted class would be Asian-American. [02:50.52]The actual percentage of Asian Americans was 19 percent. [02:58.44]Harvard denies using discriminatory practices in its admissions process. [03:05.03]The school says it uses race as one of many things it considers in admissions decisions. [03:14.85]It believes considering race can help create a mixed community [03:21.48]"where students from all walks of life" can learn with and from each other. [03:29.60]Harvard called SFFA a political group with no real interest in helping Asian Americans. [03:39.32]During the trial, no students testified that they had faced discrimination by Harvard. [03:48.32]The U.S. Supreme Court has heard several cases about affirmative action in recent years. [03:57.12]The court's most recent decision on the subject approved limited use of race in the admission process. [04:07.76]That 2016 decision came from a lawsuit against the University of Texas [04:15.04]that accused the school of discriminating against white students. [04:21.52]Harvard University leaders have said the school only considers race [04:27.04]in a way that earlier Supreme Court cases have permitted. [04:33.12]The university has also noted that its share of Asian Americans has grown in recent years. [04:42.04]Harvard reports that 25.3 percent of the latest first-year students are Asian-American. [04:53.44]Blacks make up 14.3 percent. [04:57.24]Hispanic are 12.2 percent and 1.8 percent are Native American. [05:06.56]The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has fought affirmative action at several schools. [05:16.28]In August 2018, the Justice Department issued a statement [05:22.20]siding with Students for Fair Admissions and accusing Harvard of "outright racial balancing." [05:31.52]The department is also investigating the use of race at Yale University. [05:39.96]Students for Fair Admissions has also taken legal action against the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, [05:49.48]over alleged discrimination against Asian-American applicants. [05:56.04]That lawsuit, also filed in 2014, is still ongoing. [06:03.24]I'm Anne Ball. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM