Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., on Thursday called for an end to legacy admissions following the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling striking down affirmative action programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard.
"I think the question is how do you continue to create a culture where education is the goal for every single part of our community? One of the things that Harvard could do to make that even better is to eliminate any legacy programs where they have preferential treatment for legacy kids, not allow for the professors — their kids to come to Harvard as well," Scott, who earlier this year announced his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, said on Fox's "The Faulkner Focus."
"They're looking for a way to improve the footprint of Harvard, let's make sure that all admissions are based on academic scores, and not just eliminating affirmative action, but let's look at the legacy programs," he added. "Let's look at the fact that the professors' kids can go there as well."
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., on Thursday also said the legacy-admission system was no longer justifiable.
"The longstanding use of legacy and donor preferences in admissions has unfairly elevated children of donors and alumni — who may be excellent students and well-qualified but are the last people who need an extra leg up in the complicated and competitive college admissions process," Merkley said in a statement to MarketWatch.
The system "creates an unlevel playing field for students without those built-in advantages, especially minority and first-generation students," he added.
Merkley and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., are the co-authors of the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, which, if passed, would ban universities that participate in federal student-aid program from using legacy admissions.
They plan to reintroduce their bill.
The Supreme Court in its decision to end affirmative action programs said they violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution and are therefore unlawful.
"Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.
Scott lauded the Supreme Court's decision.
"This is the day where we understand that being judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin, is what our Constitution wants," he said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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