On February 25, 2020, BG&A filed an amicus brief in the First Circuit in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard College, No. 19-2005, on behalf of ten economists and econometrics scholars: Dr. Michael P. Keane of the University of New South Wales; Dr. Hanming Fang of the University of Pennsylvania; Dr. Christopher J. Flinn of New York University; Dr. Stefan Hoderlein of Boston College; Dr. Yingyao Hu of Johns Hopkins University; Dr. Joseph P. Kaboski of the University of Notre Dame; Dr. Glenn C. Loury of Brown University; Dr. Thomas A. Mroz of Georgia State University; Dr. John P. Rust of Georgetown University; and Dr. Matthew S. Shum of California Institute of Technology.
The amicus brief supports Students for Fair Admissions in its appeal of a suit that alleges Harvard University discriminated against Asian Americans in its admissions decisions. The amicus brief argues that the district court erred when it held that the statistical analysis performed by Dr. Peter Arcidiacono on behalf of Students for Fair Admissions was flawed because it omitted Harvard’s “personal rating” score as a variable, and accepted a statistical analysis performed by Harvard’s expert instead. The brief explains that it was Harvard’s statistical analysis that was flawed because it included Harvard’s “personal rating”—a score that the evidence shows was itself biased against Asian Americans. On the basis of accepted statistical principles, the economists argue, it was clear error for the court to prefer a statistical analysis that included the personal rating.
The amicus brief is available here.