A pair of far-left Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday to ban the nation’s colleges and universities from considering family ties when granting admittance.
The lawmakers, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, said the legislation is needed to prevent racial and economic discrimination.
“Students whose parents didn’t attend or donate to a university are often overlooked in the admissions process due to the historically classist and racist legacy and donor admissions practices at many schools across the country,” Mr. Bowman said.
Mr. Bowman and Mr. Merkley said the legacy admissions process not only “disproportionately benefits rich, white, and connected students” but also has “antisemitic and anti-immigrant roots.”
Legacy admissions account for up to 25% of available slots at Ivy League institutions and family ties to an institution of higher learning can “double to quadruple” an applicant’s chance of admission, according to the lawmakers.
“Selecting applicants to universities based on family names, connections, or the size of their bank accounts creates an unlevel playing field for students without those built-in advantages, especially impacting minority and first-generation students,” Mr. Merkley said.
The bill would prohibit colleges and universities that participate in federal student aid programs from granting preferential admission to students with family members that previously attended the institution. It also would place the same prohibition on students from families that have donated to the university.
The legislation does not specify how the ban would be policed or how students would be treated if they have family ties to a school but also have academic and extracurricular qualifications to merit admission.
Not all schools would be treated equally under the legislation.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well institutes of higher education in Native American communities would be given a waiver from the prohibition on legacy admissions. To get the special treatment, the institution would be required to prove their preference on legacy status is in the “best interest of historically underrepresented students.”
Several members of Congress’ far-left “Squad” backed the bill, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri.
Another supporter is Sen. Bob Casey Jr., a Pennsylvania Democrat whose father Bob Casey Sr. was a popular two-term governor of the Keystone state.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Mr. Merkley’s last name in one paragraph.
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
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