I'm not talking about Harvard specifically (I don't even know what case you're talking about), this is just the normal state of colleges in the US.
There is no stack rank of qualified candidates for a collegiate cohort, because it is not a precise or accurate process.
There are more students who apply to Harvard each year with perfect SAT scores and who are valedictorians than there are openings in a given Harvard cohort.
Improving campus diversity helps the kids too, as it exposes them to a more representative group of people that they're likely to encounter into the world, rather than one or a few massively overrepresented groups to the exclusion of other, less resource-available and marginalized groups. It makes the school better at preparing kids for post-college life.
Getting into Harvard, for the people who would do well at Harvard, is only one of many potential successful life paths for those kids. I think it's well past time we stop pretending like it's either Harvard or the streets.
Besides, if you're so disgusted by racism, you should be in support of trying to correct for it, not opposed. Doing nothing (what you suggested by applying "randomness") is how the current racist systems continue to thrive. Doing nothing is what the racists want, so they can keep on being racist, and holding down the "inferior" races (as they see it).
Picking candidates based on their race is called "racism". You don't "undo societal damage" against one race by being racist against other races.
>> Besides, if you're so disgusted by racism, you should be in support of trying to correct for it, not opposed.
You correct racism by making society race-blind, not by flipping the direction of racist policies.
Acknowledging the racism of others is not the same as supporting ideas or policies that promote one racial group as superior in any way to any other racial group.
You can not correct racism by making society race blind, but you can perpetuate racism that way! Why do you think the racists prefer we remain at the status quo?
There is no substantive difference between what you’re suggesting here and what a white supremacist would suggest in the same situation, having already successfully poisoned the well for minorities in the US.
Worthless to argue against, since you're not willing to entertain subtleties or nuance, and totally against the spirit of HN, but not much I can do about it except stop replying to you.
“We use public documents from the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University lawsuit to examine admissions preferences for recruited athletes, legacies, those on the dean’s interest list, and children of faculty and staff (ALDCs). More than 43% of white admits are ALDC; the share for African American, Asian American, and Hispanics is less than 16%. Our model of admissions shows that roughly three-quarters of white ALDC admits would have been rejected absent their ALDC status. Removing preferences for athletes and legacies would significantly alter the racial distribution of admitted students away from whites.”
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/713744
Plus, as a percentage of student population, Asian Americans are over represented at elite colleges. Both Black and Hispanic Americans have seen their representation decrease over the last 40 years. Asian Americas, in relative terms of US population, hold 4-5x the seats in top colleges. In some case 10x!
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/24/us/affirmativ...
But yeah, let’s blame the 4% black population at UCLA, or the 8% at Harvard for taking Asian Americans deserved spot. Oh, and probably 2-3 % of all black admits are international students.
How about the focus be on expanding school capacity? College admission rates have hit all time lows because of increased competition and a failure to increase capacity.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-pandemic-ivy-league-accep...
Its pretty ridiculously that in 1980 most Ivy League schools had admission rates between 20 and 30%. Low admission rates are not a sign of good health for our education system.