As Trump takes aim at affirmative action, let’s remember how Jared Kushner got into Harvard.
In 1998, according to sources familiar with the gift, the New York University alumnus [Charles Kushner] pledged $2.5 million to Harvard, to be paid in annual installments of $250,000. ... At the time of the pledge, Kushner’s older son, Jared, was starting the college admissions process at the Frisch School, a Jewish high school in Paramus, New Jersey. A senior in 1998-99, Jared was not in the school’s highest academic track in all courses, and his test scores were below Ivy League standards. Frisch officials were surprised when he applied to Harvard — and dismayed when he was admitted.
“There was no way anybody in the administrative office of the school thought he would on the merits get into Harvard,” a former school official told me. “His GPA did not warrant it, his SAT scores did not warrant it. We thought for sure, there was no way this was going to happen. Then, lo and behold, Jared was accepted. It was a little bit disappointing because there were at the time other kids we thought should really get in on the merits, and they did not” ...
... Margot Krebs, who was director of Frisch’s college preparatory program at the time, said, “Jared was certainly not anywhere near the top of his class. He had some very strong personal qualities. He’s a very charming young man with a great deal of poise, the sort of kid you would look at him and say, ‘This is a future politician.’ It was an unusual choice for Harvard to make.”
As Trump takes aim at affirmative action, let’s remember how Jared Kushner got into Harvard
Kushner is not the only example of someone white getting into a college they were not qualified to enter.
According to your thread title, a White applicant (Jared Kushner) was selected over more qualified Black applicants; however, there is nothing in the article you posted that supports this assertion. The article alluded to an unnamed high school official who commented “Then, lo and behold, Jared was accepted. It was a little bit disappointing because there were at the time other kids we thought should really get in on the merits, and they did not....” Even if your sources were credible – and there is no evidence they are - there was no mention of the race of those who were allegedly passed over; therefore, I find your suggestion that Blacks were passed over to be disingenuous.
There is no doubt that sometimes more qualified students get passed over by legacy candidates (family members of alumni) and major financial contributors. My own research shows this is rather common. However, it is highly unlikely that qualified Blacks are passed over in favor of less qualified Whites with influential parents. There is a reason for this and the following example explains it all.
Assume for the moment that you were the dean of admissions at USMB College of Law. Your enrollment is capped at 800 students and you will loose your position if you accept more than that. You pride yourself on the diversity of your student body and this year you accepted every Black applicant. You have 800 acceptance letters on your desk, ready to mail when an old friend comes into your office. He wants his White son enrolled in your college but has a problem: his son is not as qualified as those already accepted. He then offers to donate $2 million to your school. What do you do? If you wanted the college to benefit from his largess there is only one way to do it without getting into a legal quagmire: You must take one of the acceptance letters and tear it up, replacing it with an acceptance letter for your friend's son. That will keep you within the 800 student limit. But you better be careful which letter you tear up. If you tear up the letter of a Black applicant you will be faced with a lawsuit against which you will have no defense; however, if you tear up the acceptance letter of a White applicant, you are home free. A White applicant passed over in favor a less qualified White applicant has no standing to sue.
I am not saying that a Black applicant was never passed over in favor of a less qualified White because the White man's daddy gave a large donation to the university. I am saying that if it occurs at all it is very rare and easily remedied. It will be interesting to see if Harvard is sued. If they accepted Kushner over a more qualified Black, I would expect a lawsuit. In the absence of a legal challenge I will assume that no Black applicant was adversely affected.
One last thought. If you were trying to show that Blacks were being discriminated against regarding college admissions, you failed miserably. Discrimination against Blacks is almost non-existent, but discrimination against Whites and Asians is rampant. Under the banner of affirmative actions, Blacks have an advantage over other races. Admission to my law school was based upon the weighted average of an applicant's undergraduate GPA and scores on the LSAT. Special consideration was given to those who, like me, had an advanced degree. However, 10 percent of its seats were reserved for minorities. This means that as long as the minority applicant met the very basic requirements for admissions (they had a 4-year degree and took the LSAT) they would be admitted even if their undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores were less than every White applicant. To put it bluntly, they were admitted solely because they were Black. This is commonplace.
The very idea that Blacks are discriminated against when it comes to college admissions is laughable.