Let's be honest, this isn't the first time and it won't be the last. Harvard has previously discriminated against Jews, and is now discriminating against Asians for the exact same reasons. I'm all for lending a helping hand to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. But using race is a punitive factor to punish minorities that are "too successful", is pure racism.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/harvard-s-jewish-problem

By 1919 ... Jews at Harvard tripled to 21% of the freshman class in 1922 from about 7% in 1900. Ivy League Jews won a disproportionate share of academic prizes and election to Phi Beta Kappa but were widely regarded as competitive, eager to excel academically and less interested in extra-curricular activities such as organized sports. Non-Jews accused them of being clannish, socially unskilled and either unwilling or unable to“fit in.”

In 1922, Harvard's president, A. Lawrence Lowell, proposed a quota on the number of Jews gaining admission to the university. Lowell was convinced that Harvard could only survive if the majority of its students came from old American stock.

Lowell argued that cutting the number of Jews at Harvard to a maximum of 15% would be good for the Jews, because limits would prevent further anti-Semitism. Lowell reasoned, “The anti-Semitic feeling among the students is increasing, and it grows in proportion to the increase in the number of Jews. If their number should become 40% of the student body, the race feeling would become intense.”