Advancing Justice – AAJC and Lawyers’ Committee File Amicus Brief Defending Minority-Serving Institutions

New amicus brief in Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions v. U.S. Department of Education
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For Immediate Release
Contact
Sofia Costas scostas@advancingjustice-aajc.org
Lacy Crawford lcrawford@lawyerscommittee.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on behalf of themselves and 16 other civil rights organizations filed an amicus brief in Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions v. U.S. Department of Education in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. 

The brief makes clear that the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) program in question does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. In bringing this case, SFFA and Tennessee stretch the SFFA v. Harvard Supreme Court decision to illogical limits in an attempt to curtail Congress’s power to identify and correct funding inequities between institutions. Our brief highlights the importance of minority-serving institutions, which are among the most diverse institutions in the country, for ensuring all students have equal access to the educational opportunities they need to succeed.  

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC (Advancing Justice – AAJC) and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law issue the following statement in response:

“We believe all students, regardless of their race or background, should have equal access to educational opportunities to succeed. First-generation students, immigrant students, low-income families, and multilingual learners across the country rely on Minority-Serving Institutions to access higher education. For example, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), have expanded opportunities for Asian American students and contributed to improving our communities. An attack on the HSI program is an attack on all students who rely on Minority-Serving Institutions. 

“This case is part of a coordinated effort to roll back policies and programs designed to widen access to education and address longstanding inequities.  For decades, our courts have recognized that government action was permissible and necessary to remedy profound racial disparities. SFFA and Tennessee are trying to reverse 50+ years of equal rights progress by forcing the government to ignore demographic realities, ignore inequality, and ultimately strip funding from institutions that have already systemically been denied equal funding. Doing so would be deeply harmful to higher education and profoundly harmful to students. We stand with HACU in defending the Hispanic-Serving Institutions program and the opportunities it helps make possible.”

You can read our Amicus Brief here and learn more about the case here.

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Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC has a mission to advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. The Lawyers’ Committee implements its mission and objectives by marshaling the pro bono resources of the bar for litigation, public policy, advocacy and other forms of service by lawyers to the cause of civil rights.