A group of slate candidates, running for the Board of overseers at Harvard, has proposed making tuition free to all undergraduates through a campaign. 'Free Harvard, Fair Harvard' slogan inherited slate group has argued in favor of their propaganda saying the Ivy League institution makes so much money from its $37.6 billion endowment that it may offer free tuition to the undergraduates.
If Harvard omits tuition fees, more highly qualified students from all strata of the society will find opportunity to apply. Similarly, the university authority will find ease in balancing classes for racial or ethnic diversity and the Asian- Americans won't lose out, other points of argument cited by the group, reports The New York Times.
The slate of five has been united by Ron Unz, a conservative California software entrepreneur who has sponsored ballot initiatives opposing bilingual education. The group also includes one left-leaning member, the consumer advocate Ralph Nader.
The other three members are professor and tech entrepreneur Stephen Hsu, journalist and lawyer Stuart Taylor Jr. and Lee C. Cheng, a co-founder of the Asian-American Legal Foundation. Referring the move as extreme stance for attention-grabbing, MarketWatch narrates tuition free as silly, quoting Ann Marcus, the director of New York University's Steinhardt Institute of Higher Education Policy.
Mr. Unz and the other three candidates have written or testified extensively against affirmative action, opposing race-based admissions. The group's race argument is an especially interesting proposition as the Supreme Court considers whether race-based affirmative action is constitutional. The initiative claims to ensure Asian Americans aren't discriminated in the admissions process; an issue Harvard is too familiar with, reports Time.
The politically charged data reveals, Harvard bypasses better-qualified Asian-American candidates favoring whites, blacks, Hispanics and the children of the wealthy and powerful, the group argues. Whatever the political motivations, Mr. Unz and the other members of the slate, have hit on two increasingly contentious issues in higher education: ballooning college costs and affirmative action.
The Board of Overseers comprising of 30 members, elected for six-year tenure, is the second most powerful board at the university. Members are generally elected from nominees selected by the Harvard Alumni Association. To be placed on the ballot, 201 Harvard graduates must sign the petition by this month.
A slate group of five members intending to get elected for running the Board of Overseers for Harvard has proposed for making tuition free to all undergraduates. It also opposes the racial discrimination existed in the admission procedure. Soaring college cost has become a rising concern for the guardians and Free Harvard concept may appeal more among the Alumna.
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