Vox Sentences: Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard
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A lawsuit against Harvard University goes to court Monday; the Turkish government says it has proof that Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudis.
A lawsuit against Harvard goes to court
Scott Elsen/Getty Images
A lawsuit alleging that Harvard discriminates against Asian-American applicants begins Monday in Boston federal court, forcing the elite institution to finally reveal its admissions processes to the public. [WSJ / Nicole Hong and Melissa Korn]
The group bringing the suit, Students for Fair Admissions, is led by a longtime anti-affirmative action activist who previously recruited Abigail Fisher to challenge the University of Texas’s admissions policies. [NBC / Chris Fuchs]
In Fisher v. University of Texas, the Supreme Court’s most recent ruling on affirmative action, the Court held that college can consider race as one factor in admissions as long as the program is narrowly tailored and benefits the entire student body. [Vox / Libby Nelson]
Harvard denies any bias and says it considers race only as one of many factors in deciding which students to admit. [AP]
Harvard’s president, Lawrence S. Bacow, warned students that the case may “create divisions” among university affiliates, but that he’s “unequivocal” in that the college does not discriminate against anybody. [Harvard Crimson / Kristine E. Guillaume]
An analysis by the New York Times in 2013 showed a gradual decline in Asian-American students’ reported enrollment at Harvard over the past two decades, suggesting that Ivy League schools might practice the use of an “Asian quota” in the admissions processes. [NYT / Ron Unz]
The US Justice Department has backed the anti-affirmative action group in the process, saying Harvard has not seriously considered alternative, race-neutral approaches to admissions. [Reuters / Nate Raymond]
Khashoggi’s whereabouts are still unknown
Turkish authorities have told US officials they have audio and video recordings that prove Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. [NYT / David D. Kirkpatrick]
The journalist’s disappearance has caused a global uproar, with US senators and President Trump mixed on what measures to take to respond. [Weekly Standard / Haley Byrd]
In the meantime, several US media groups and business leaders have pulled out of a major Saudi investment conference and say they won’t attend while the mystery remains unexplained. [Al Jazeera]
In his last tweets before his disappearance, Khashoggi weighed in on many regional crises in the Middle East, including the Israel-Palestine issue, writing that “the voice of Palestine is still loud” in the UK despite the power of the Israeli lobby. [Anadolu Agency / Ali Abo Rezeg]
Miscellaneous
A new study suggests vaping, often presented as a less harmful option than smoking cigarettes, may actually be more dangerous than cigarettes because the flavorings in e-cigs may cause inflammation in the lungs. [New York Post / Lynsey Hope]
In a poem by Leonard Cohen published posthumously, the famed singer-songwriter disses Kanye West for likening himself to Picasso in a 2013 concert. [Page Six / Yaron Steinbuch]
A nearly 19-mile rift is splintering across West Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier, and scientists are concerned it’s creating icebergs more frequently than it used to. [Scientific American / Laura Geggel]
Tesla has moved to trademark “Teslaquila,” a term that originated in a series of tweets by CEO Elon Musk on April Fool’s Day in which he suggested the company has gone bankrupt. [MarketWatch / Claudia Assis]