At the start of a large-scale trial, the Harvard University Group's lawyer said on Monday that the foundation discriminated against applicants of Asian-American origin, illegally restricting the number of admissions.
The trial at the Federal Court of Boston is a confrontation between the American University Association and the Students for Fair Engagement movement, which challenges its 2014 appeal to use ethnic origins as a factor in making admission decisions.
The movement led by activist Edward Bloom claims that Harvard has been illegally involved in so-called "racial balance", which artificially limits the number of Asian-Americans at the university.
"Even statistics show that the performance of Asian-American applicants is better than others by academic standards, but that was not necessarily taken into account," said lawyer Adam Mortara in his opening speech.
The lawyer said Harvard had reduced the ratings of Asian Americans in "personal assessment", which measured the extent of the applicant's positive, self-acceptance and acceptance, and allowed ethnic origin to play a role in those grades. "There is no other explanation," he said.
Harvard is expected to make its case later, to defend itself against the accusations that shake its image in the world.
