Asian Americans Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), have filed three separate amicusbriefs urging the nation’s highest court to uphold University of Texas at Austin’s (UT-Austin) affirmative action policy.
Together, the briefs represent over 160 organizations in support of equal opportunity and affirmative action in higher education, representing the tremendous diversity within Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, including Arab, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander organizations. In addition, the briefs represent 53 individuals, including higher education faculty and officials. (See the full-list of sign ons to the Advancing Justice brief below)
The amicus brief filed by Advancing Justice argues that an applicant cannot be evaluated holistically without the consideration of race. In UT-Austin’s holistic review program, where test scores play a dominant role in the admissions process, it is even more crucial to consider race because these tests disproportionately limit access to educational opportunities for minority students. The brief also shows how race conscious admissions programs opened the doors of higher education for AAPI students after a century of discrimination and exclusion and continue to benefit many AAPI students who face significant educational barriers today.
A closer look at disaggregated data reveals large disparities in educational attainment among Asian American ethnic groups. Based on U.S. Census Bureau data, the educational attainment of Hmong, Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans is the lowest among Asian American ethnic groups and similar to those of Latinos and African Americans. Only 61 percent of Hmong Americans hold a high school diploma, while only 12 percent of Laotian Americans have graduated from college.
The Asian American Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice) amicus brief in support of affirmative action represents 141 Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations, student groups, and bar associations, as well as, 9 members of academia.
18 Million Rising
After Bruce
Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment
American Citizens for Justice/Asian American Center for Justice (ACJ)
American Educational Research Association: Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans, Special Interest Group
Anakbayan Inland Empire
Arab American Action Network (AAAN)
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF)
Asian American and Pacific Islander Research Coalition (ARC)
Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area
Asian American Psychological Association
Asian and Latino Community Services, Inc.
Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (“APIASF”)
Asian Counseling and Referral Service
Asian Immigrant Women Advocates
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Pacific American Bar Association – PA
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Los Angeles Chapter
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center
Asian Pacific American Network
Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Alliance (APAWLA)
Asian Pacific Americans for Civic Engagement – Washington (APACEvotes); (APACEC4)
APACE C4
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Asian Pacific Islander Equality – Los Angeles (API Equality – LA)
Asian Pacific Islander Equality – Northern California (A{I Equality – Northern CA)
Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (API Legal Outreach)
Asian Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance
Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council: A3PCON
Asian Services in Action, Inc. (ASIA)
Asian/Pacific Islander Recruitment and Retention Center (“REACH!”)
ASPIRE-LA
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)
Cal-State University, Northridge’s (CSUN) Dreams To Be Heard (DTBH)
California Immigrant Policy Center (“CIPC”)
Center for Asian Pacific American Students at Pitzer College (CAPAS)
Chinatown Community for Equitable Development (CCED)
Chinese American Service League
Chinese Progressive Association – San Francisco
Claremont Colleges – 7-College Asian American Advisory Board
Claremont Colleges, Kasama
Coalition of API Americans Collaborating Together to Unite the Southwest (CACTUS)
Columbia Law School APALSA
Cornell University, Asian American Studies Department
Cornell University, Society for Asian American Graduate Affairs
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA)
Council on American-Islamic Relations (“CAIR”)
Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM)
East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU)
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities
Famili Pe Taha
Filipino Advocates for Justice
Filipino Migrant Center
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries
GABRIELA – LA
Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY)
Harvey Mudd College – Office of Institutional Diversity
Hmong American Partnership
Hmong Innovating Politics
International Community Health Services
Japanese American Bar Association (JABA)
Japanese American Citizens League – Seattle (JACL – Seattle)
K-12 News Network
K.W Lee Center for Leadership
KAN-WIN
Kizuna
Korean American Bar Association of Southern California
Korean American Coalition – Los Angeles (KAC)
Korean American Community Services
Korean American Resource and Cultural Center
Korean Resource Center
Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance
Law Offices of Vivek Mittal
Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc.
Little Tokyo Service Center CDC
Marshallese Educational Initiative
Merced Lao Family Community, Inc.
Minnesota APABA
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA)
National Federation of Filipinio American Associations (NaFFAA)
National Filipino American Lawyers Association
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
NATIVE HAWAIIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER ALLIANCE
Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress
Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance,Inc (OCAPICA)
Organization of Chinese Americans – Asian Pacific American Advocates (OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates)
Pacific Islander Health Partnership (PIHP)
Philipppine American Bar Association (PABA)
Pilipino Worker’s Center (PWC)
Polynesian Community Center – Alaska
Pomona College, AAMP
Pomona College, Asian American Resource Center
RAISE: Revolutionizing Asian American Immigrant Stories on the East Coast
REACH(r)
Reappropriate
Refugee & Immigrant Services Northwest
Rice University, Asian Pacific American Student Alliance
SAN
Scripps College – Asian American Student Union
Scripps College, Scripps Communities of Resources and Empowerment (SCORE)
South Asian American Policy & Research Institute (SAAPRI)
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
South Asian Bar Association of North America (SABA North America)
South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA-NC)
South Asian Bar Association of Southern California (SABA-SC)
South Asian Helpline & Referral Agency (SAHARA)
Southeast Asian Coalition
Southeast Asian Community Alliance (SEACA)
Students of Color in Public Policy, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Tafesilafa’i
Taulama for Tongans
Tongan Community Service Center
Travis County Asian American Democrats (TCAAD)
UC Berkeley – Asian Pacific American Student Development
UC Berkeley School of Law, Womyn of Color Collective
UC Berkeley, ASUC Office of Senator Kathy Tran
UC Hastings College of the Law, APALSA
UC Irvine, Asian Pacific Student Association (APSA)
UCLA School of Law, Asian Pacific American Law Journal (APALJ)
UCLA School of Law, Asian Pacific Islander Law Students Association (APILSA)
UCLA School of Law, David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy (PILP)
UCLA, Asian American Studies Center (UCLA AASC)
UCLA, Asian Americans Studies Graduate Student Association
UCLA, Asian Pacific Coalition
UCLA, Samahang Pilipino
UCSB, Asian American Studies Department
UNITED SIKHS
United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)
University of Calfornia, Davis – Asian Pacific Student Alliance
University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of Michigan, APALSA
University of Michigan, Ford School, Students of COlor in Public Policy
USC Asian Pacific American Student Assembly
USC Student Coalition of Asian Pacific Empowerment (SPACE)
USF – APALSA
USF – Vietnamese American Law Society (VALS)
WASITRAC
West Coast Asian Pacific Islander Student Union (WCAPSU)
Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience
Yale Law School, Board of APALSA
Rachel Endo, Hamline University
Jasleen Kohli, UCLA-CRS
Federick Ngo, USC Phd Candidate in Urban Education Policy
David Perez, Miami University
Janelle Wong, University of Maryland – Bethesda
Oiyan Poon, Loyola University Chicago
Diane Fujino, UC Santa Barbara
Riki Robinson, Pitzer College
Gary Okihiro, Columbia University
Suman Pendakur, Harvey Mudd Office of Institutional diversity