A coalition of student groups at Ivy League universities and other elite colleges issued an open letter Wednesday urging their institutions to re-evaluate their use of admissions preferences for children of alumni. The letter calls for colleges to review their practices and to be public about the preferences they grant and those policies' impact on admission rates. Calls to eliminate legacy preferences in the past have largely been ignored by elite colleges.
"The practice of providing preferential treatment to applicants based on familial relationships is, from its very inception, rooted in discrimination, having been a tool used to reduce the rising Jewish population in elite colleges," says the open letter. It adds, "This campaign is not about whether or not legacy applicants like our future children deserve their place in their respective universities. It is about ensuring that all students have equal footing in the admissions process regardless of whether or not their parents attended a certain university."
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/02/15/student-groups-urge-review-legacy-admissions