“My guess is people will look carefully at Harvard’s brief,” he said. “Harvard has visibility and a track record in this area.”
The Process
Though Harvard served as the primary writer of the brief, the other signatories provided feedback during the drafting process.
Dartmouth General Counsel Robert B. Donin said he began to review the brief shortly before winter vacation.
He stressed the importance of universities banding together to sign a single brief instead of filing individually.
“In a case such as this, the court receives many amicus briefs. If each school submitted an individual one, there would be many more briefs than the court has time to read,” Donin said.
Langdell Professor of Law Martha A. Field said the quantity of signatories is not as important as the quality.
“I don’t think that the number is important,” Field said. “But the fact that top educational institutions signed, including ones known as rather conservative, could have some influence with the court.”
Princeton Counsel Lorraine Sciarra said the schools’ shared principles made filing a joint brief a logical step.
“We are absolutely at one with the view expressed in the brief,” she said.
Despite the other signatories, the brief only specifically cites Harvard’s undergraduate admissions policy—a choice those signing the brief decided upon from the start.
“The admissions policies that are mentioned in the brief are representative of all of the admissions policies at these eight schools,” Donin said.
The Shape of the Brief
The 29 pages of text that comprise the University’s brief present an argument which explains Harvard’s use of race as one factor in admissions.
But the primary focus of the brief, Sciarra said, is “the importance of diversity for the country and the world.”
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