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Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Connecticut, announced two weeks ago that it was ending legacy admissions. Many elite schools say legacy admissions are important for maintaining relationships with alumni, which can help universities raise money that is then available for financial aid to needy students. In a June 2018 legal filing in the case that led to the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, Harvard argued that “there would be substantial costs” to ending legacy admissions. Legacy students may donate more. In the American Sociological Review study, legacy students were about half as likely to apply for financial aid as admitted students who weren’t related to alumni.

Persons: Johns Hopkins, ”, Mickey Munley, “ It’s, “, Richard D Organizations: Wesleyan University, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, American Sociological Review, Council, Advancement, Wesleyan, American Sociological, Georgetown University Locations: Connecticut, Amherst, Iowa, ”

☆ Biden’s Fight With Harvard Is a Political Winner and Policy ‘Band-Aid’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Reid J. Epstein | More About Reid J. Epstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

People involved in the campaign to make higher education more equitable and accessible described the question of legacy admissions as limited to a few applicants to elite universities. At less competitive schools, often state universities, legacy students are recruited and celebrated. is in my blood.”Liz King, the senior program director for education at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said the Education Department’s civil rights office had been obligated to begin an inquiry about Harvard’s legacy admissions process after receiving a complaint about it. She said she hoped the Biden administration would not limit its higher education investigation to legacy admissions, but instead look broadly at a system she described as discriminatory for students and applicants of color. “What we need is equal access in higher education.”

Persons: ”, ” Liz King, Biden, King Organizations: Harvard, University of Delaware, ”, Leadership Conference, Civil, Human, Education, Wesleyan University

☆ Democratic US lawmakers propose banning legacy admissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Julia Harte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Legacy admissions at schools such as Harvard University have been shown to overwhelmingly favor white, wealthy students over students of color from disadvantaged backgrounds. The bill announced on Wednesday, the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, was introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley in 2022, but did not make it beyond a Senate committee. Viet Nguyen, executive director of EdMobilizer, a non-profit that has been campaigning against legacy admissions since 2018, joined the lawmakers at Wednesday's press conference. EdMobilizer is pushing alumni of 30 top colleges and universities to withhold donations from their schools until they end legacy admissions. Wesleyan University and the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus announced they would stop using legacy admissions in July, following a handful of other U.S. higher education institutions that have ended them in recent years.

Persons: Jeff Merkley, Merkley, Jamaal Bowman, Chris Van Hollen, Nguyen, Brown, Julia Harte, Donna Bryson, Alistair Bell Organizations: Democratic U.S, U.S . Education Department, Harvard, Harvard University, University of North, Fair College, Stanford, Wesleyan University, University of Minnesota's, University of Minnesota's Twin Cities, Thomson Locations: U.S, University of North Carolina, University of Minnesota's Twin

☆ Education Department opens investigation into Harvard’s legacy admissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Opening a new front in legal battles over college admissions, the U.S. Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into Harvard University's policies on legacy admissions. An Education Department spokesperson confirmed its Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation at Harvard. Wesleyan President Michael Roth said a student's "legacy status" has played a negligible role in admissions, but would now be eliminated entirely. Legacy policies have been called into question after last month's Supreme Court ruling banning affirmative action and any consideration of race in college admissions. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said he commended the Education Department for taking steps to ensure the higher education system "works for every American, not just a privileged few."

Persons: Jane Sujen Bock, Michael Roth, Derrick Johnson, Brown Organizations: U.S . Department of Education, Harvard, Civil Rights, discriminates, Education Department, Coalition, Wesleyan University, Wesleyan, Amherst College, Carnegie Melon University, Johns Hopkins University, NAACP, Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Duke, University of Chicago, Athletic Locations: Boston, New England, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland

The department's Office for Civil Rights opened the probe following a complaint filed earlier this month by three civil rights groups, who argued that Harvard's preference for "legacy" undergraduate applicants overwhelmingly benefits white students, in violation of a federal civil rights law. Those statistics were calculated from Harvard admissions data that became public as a result of the case that the Supreme Court decided in June. The Education Department through a spokesperson confirmed it had an open investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars race discrimination for programs receiving federal funds. "Simply put, Harvard is on the wrong side of history," said Oren Sellstrom, the litigation director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, the Boston-based group representing the civil rights groups who prompted the Education Department investigation. Sellstrom spoke at a Tuesday press conference regarding the federal probe, along with representatives for two of the Boston-area civil rights groups represented in the complaint.

Persons: Nicole Rura, Oren Sellstrom, Sellstrom, Zaida Ismatul Oliva, Edward Blum, Julia Harte, Nick Macfie, Daniel Wallis Organizations: U.S . Department of Education, Harvard, Civil Rights, Harvard College, University of North, Harvard University, Supreme, Education Department, Ivy League, Department, Civil, Wesleyan University, University of Minnesota's, University of Minnesota's Twin Cities, Fair Admissions, NAACP, Mexican American Legal Defense, Thomson Locations: University of North Carolina, Cambridge , Massachusetts, University of Minnesota's Twin, Boston

☆ Wesleyan University ends legacy admissions after Supreme Court decision on affirmative action
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

More Americans disagree with legacy admissionsToday, fewer Americans agree with legacy admissions. "This preferential treatment overwhelmingly goes to white applicants and harms efforts to diversify color," added Michael Kippins, litigation fellow at Lawyers for Civil Rights. The NAACP called on more than 1,600 U.S. public and private colleges and universities to commit to increasing the representation of historically underrepresented students and end the practice of legacy admissions. The reality is we've reached a pretty good consensus on the use of identity in college admissions. Legacy admissions 'could be deemed unconstitutional'Since the practice of legacy admissions has indirect racial implications, these challenges may have legal merit, according to Jeanine Conley Daves, an attorney at New York-based firm Littler.

Persons: Wesleyan University Joanne Rathe, Ivan Espinoza, Madrigal, Michael Kippins, Ivory Toldson, Alvin Tillery, Don Harris, Harris, John Roberts, Jeanine Conley Daves Organizations: Wesleyan University, Boston Globe, Harvard University, Civil Rights, Pew Research, Harvard, NAACP, Northwestern University's Center, Diversity, Diversity and Democracy, Supreme, Temple University School of Law Locations: Massachusetts, New York

☆ With Just a 5 Percent Down Payment, What Would $650,000 Buy in Bed-Stuy?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Bed-Stuy feels like a smaller universe within the larger New York City.”Mx. Saving to buy a home, which had felt like fantasy before the pandemic, suddenly felt possible. Haymon returned to Bed-Stuy, they were able to rent a two-bedroom with a balcony for $2,350 a month — a “Covid deal” that wouldn’t last forever. They reached out to Dalia Glazer, a real estate agent with Compass, and explained that they could spend up to $650,000 — as long as the down payment was only 5 percent. “I couldn’t go above 5 percent for a down payment,” Mx.

Persons: Miranda Haymon, “, Haymon, ”, Dalia Glazer, Ms, Glazer Organizations: North Brooklyn ., Wesleyan University, Compass, ” Locations: New York City, Bedford, Stuyvesant, North Brooklyn, Boston, Connecticut, New York, Midtown Manhattan

☆ Wesleyan University is getting rid of legacy admissions. The school's president called the controversial practice 'embarrassing' and an 'unearned privilege.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Wesleyan University has ended legacy admissions, the practice of favoring applicants related to alumni. The university's president told The New York Times the practice is "embarrassing" and an "unearned privilege." The end of legacy admissions at Wesleyan comes after the Supreme Court's decision last month to end affirmative action, the practice of considering an applicant's race in college admissions. Meanwhile, donor-related applicants were almost seven times more likely to be admitted, whereas legacy applicants were nearly six times more likely, Insider reported. However, a Pew Research Center study showed 75% of participants disapproved of legacy admissions.

Persons: Michael Roth, Roth, Johns Hopkins Organizations: Wesleyan University, New York Times, Service, Wesleyan, MIT, Harvard University, Pew Research Locations: Wall, Silicon, California

☆ Wesleyan University Ends Legacy Admissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Vimal Patel | More About Vimal Patel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It Matters: Opposition to legacy admissions has grown. After the Supreme Court decision, legacy admissions came under heavy attack because the practice tends to favor white, wealthy applicants over Black, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American students. Polls also show that the public does not support legacy admissions. Some highly selective universities and colleges have dropped legacy admissions, including Amherst, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon and M.I.T. The future of legacy admissions on campuses is uncertain.

Persons: Joe Biden, Alexandria Ocasio, Tim Scott, Johns Hopkins, Michael S, Roth, Mr, whittle, ” Mr, ”, Biden, Iván Espinoza, Madrigal Organizations: Republican, Pew Research Center, Carnegie Mellon, Wesleyan, Harvard, Yale, Department, ”, Civil Rights Locations: Cortez, New York, South Carolina, Amherst

☆ How It Feels to Have Your Life Changed By Affirmative Action
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Amy Harmon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

So when his guidance counselor summoned him because “someone from Brown is coming,” Mr. Hale recalls, the Ivy League school did not register. “Brown?” Mr. Hale remembered thinking. Mr. Hale, who ended up accepting a full academic scholarship to Wesleyan University in Connecticut, could not have known then that he would be part of the first large cohort of high-school graduates to be shaped by race-conscious admissions. Or that the practice would become a lightning rod for decades-long debates about racial justice, meritocracy and educational inequities. Brown University was not the only college that fall to recruit for the first time from schools with high concentrations of Black students.

Persons: Granderson Hale, Cheney, Brown, ” Mr, Hale, “ Brown, Mr, Charlie Brown Organizations: Philadelphia, Black, Howard University, Ivy League, Wesleyan University, Brown University Locations: Lincoln, Connecticut

☆ South Dakota lawmaker quotes MLK Jr. out of context during her vote to restrict health care for trans youth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

South Dakota is seeking to restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth. The portion Schaefbauer quoted is as follows: "It may be true that you can't legislate integration, but you can legislate desegregation. The bill, House Bill 1080, would prevent transgender youth from access to gender-affirming care. South Dakota is a notably conservative state. Last year, South Dakota limited the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools by restricting "inherently divisive concepts" such as discussing how a person can be "racist, sexist or oppressive," CNN reported.

☆ Special Report: Boy Scouts, Catholic dioceses find haven from sex abuse suits in bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Kristina Cooke Mike Spector Benjamin Lesser Dan Levine Disha Raychaudhuri | Kristina Cooke | Mike Spector | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +19 min

The Boy Scouts, for instance, said on a website the group set up for restructuring that it launched a “comprehensive noticing campaign” in the media. He sought compensation in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy in June, long after a deadline of November 16, 2020 for filing claims. The Boy Scouts bankruptcy reorganization plan, approved by a judge in September, halts all lawsuits against the Boy Scouts, local councils, churches and other organizations that chartered scouting activities. His case was halted by the Boy Scouts bankruptcy. Later that year, in August, he filed his lawsuit against defendants including a Boy Scouts local council and DeSandre.

☆ 'It's A Wonderful Life': See the classic Christmas film on the big screen this month
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jeanne Bonner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Karolyn Grimes and James Stewart in "It's A Wonderful Life." Fathom has long wanted to revive showings of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” Carey said, noting that fans have been asking for it. No film is a failure if it has fansWhat’s long delighted film historians is the fact that when “It’s a Wonderful Life” debuted, it was largely deemed a wash. As film historian Jeanine Basinger writes in her compendium, “The It’s A Wonderful Life Book,” the original idea for the film languished for years before the studio RKO sold it to Capra in 1945 for a mere $10,000. William Edmunds and James Stewart in 1946's "It's A Wonderful Life."

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