Department of Education opens investigation into Harvard University's legacy admissions
CBSN
The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Harvard University's policies on legacy admissions, according to a group that alleges the practice is discriminatory. The department notified Lawyers for Civil Rights, a nonprofit based in Boston, on Monday that it was investigating the group's claim that alleges the university "discriminates on the basis of race by using donor and legacy preferences in its undergraduate admissions process."
Top colleges' preferential treatment of children of alumni has been facing new scrutiny since the Supreme Court last month struck down the use of affirmative action as a tool to diversify college campuses. The court's conservative majority effectively overturned cases reaching back 45 years, forcing institutions of higher education to seek new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
An Education Department spokesperson confirmed its Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation at Harvard and declined further comment.
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund, agreeing to review a lower court decision that upended the mechanism for funding programs that provide communications services to rural areas, low-income communities and schools, libraries and hospitals.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.