BOSTON — Students and alumni at some of the nation’s top universities are urging their schools to reconsider admissions policies that give an edge to relatives of alumni.
Campus groups for first-generation and low-income students at 12 elite universities issued a joint letter Wednesday asking their schools to review the impact of so-called legacy admissions policies through proposed campus panels that would include students and alumni. The coalition also called on their schools to publicize policies and data on the topic.
“This campaign is not about whether or not legacy applicants like our future children deserve their place in their respective universities,” the group wrote. “It is about ensuring that all students have equal footing in the admissions process regardless of whether or not their parents attended a certain university.”
Officials from the 12 schools did not immediately comment on the letter.
Although most colleges closely guard the weight they give to legacy status, data released by some Ivy League universities show that relatives of alumni are admitted at far higher rates than the overall applicant pool.
The letter is signed by student groups at Harvard, Brown, Yale and all other Ivy League schools except Dartmouth College, which does not have a campus group for first-generation students, the coalition says. Others in the group come from prestigious private schools, including Amherst College and the University of Chicago.
While students in the coalition acknowledge the practice could benefit them — and some said they felt conflicted about challenging it — they argue that ending legacy preferences would give more low-income and first-generation students a shot at attending prestigious schools.
