當哈佛大學免費了 亞裔就不會被歧視
Should Harvard be free?
哈佛應該免費嗎？
That is the provocative question posed by an outsider slate of candidates running for the Board of Overseers at Harvard, which helps set strategy for the university. They say Harvard makes so much money from its $37.6 billion endowment that it should stop charging tuition to undergraduates.
這是哈佛大學監事會選舉時一羣外部候選人提出的敏感問題。該監事會旨在輔助哈佛制定策略。他們聲稱，哈佛利用376億美元的捐款賺取了大筆錢財，所以應當爲本科生免除學費。
But they have tied the notion to another equally provocative question: Does Harvard shortchange Asian-American applicants in admissions?
不過，他們把這一意見與另一個同樣敏感的問題放在了一起：哈佛是否在錄取過程中虧待亞裔申請人？
The slate of five former students was put together by Ron Unz, a conservative from California and software entrepreneur who sponsored ballots initiatives opposing bilingual education. Although the campaign, “Free Harvard, Fair Harvard,” includes one left-leaning member — the consumer advocate Ralph Nader — Mr. Unz and the other three candidates have written or testified extensively against affirmative action, opposing race-based admissions.
加尼福尼亞保守派、軟件創業人士羅恩·溫茨(Ron Unz)團結了五位哈佛校友的力量。溫茨資助過以反對雙語教育爲目標的多項選票倡議。雖然在這個“免費哈佛、公平哈佛”運動中有一位左傾成員——倡導消費者利益的拉爾夫·納德(Ralph Nader)——但是溫茨和其他三位候選人撰文或在聽證會中不遺餘力地作證，反對平權措施，反對基於族裔的錄取制度。
Their positions are in lock step with accusations in a federal lawsuit accusing the university of discriminating against Asian-Americans in admissions. Harvard has denied the allegations.
他們的立場呼應着聯邦法院的一宗關於哈佛大學在錄取時歧視亞裔的訴訟。哈佛否認這些指控。
Coincidence or not, the plaintiffs in that case are seeking from Harvard exactly what the slate of candidates wants: disclosure of data showing how the university’s freshman class is selected each year.
不論是不是巧合，該訴訟中的原告對哈佛的要求和這羣監事候選人的要求完全一致：公開數據，說明哈佛每年招錄新生的情況。
The politically charged data holds the potential to reveal whether Harvard bypasses better-qualified Asian-American candidates in favor of whites, blacks and Hispanics, and the children of the wealthy and powerful, the group argues.
這些政治意味濃厚的數據有可能揭露哈佛是否有意忽略較爲優秀的亞裔申請人，而青睞白人、黑人、拉丁裔以及權貴階層的子女。
“Our focus is entirely on greater transparency in admissions,” Mr. Unz said, “namely urging Harvard to provide much more detailed information on how they select the very small slice of applicants receiving offers of admission, in order to curb the huge potential abuse possible under the entirely opaque system.”
“我們關注的僅僅是錄取的透明度，”溫茨說，“也就是敦促哈佛發佈他們如何挑選那一小羣成功申請者的詳細信息，阻止在一套完全不透明的制度下驚人的潛在權力濫用。”
Whatever the political motivations of the slate, Mr. Unz and the other members have hit on two increasingly contentious issues in higher education: astronomical college costs and affirmative action.
不論這個候選人團體的政治動機如何，溫茨等成員都抓住了高等教育中兩個越來越有爭議的話題：天文數字般的大學費用和平權措施。
The ballooning expense of college has become a hot topic in the presidential race, with several candidates proposing solutions ranging from government-financed tuition to the idea that private investors could finance college expenses in exchange for a share of an individual’s future earnings. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have proposed an idea similar to the one held by Mr. Unz’s slate — that college endowments should be tapped to cover tuition.
上大學費用的急劇膨脹成爲了總統大選的熱門話題，多位候選人提出瞭解決方案，從政府撥款，到私人投資者出資以換取學生將來收入的一定比例。國會山的一些議員也提出了與溫茨的團體類似的想法——大學收到的捐款也應該用來支付學費。
The United States Supreme Court is considering whether race should be used as a factor in college admissions. As so-called underrepresented minorities — blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans — get a boost at Harvard and many other colleges, Asian-Americans are among those who say they lose out.
美國最高法院正在考慮族裔是否應當作爲大學錄取的一個要素。因爲所謂的弱勢少數羣體——黑人、拉丁裔和美洲土著——在哈佛和其他很多大學受到了優待，而亞裔則處於聲稱自身的機會受到剝奪的羣體之列。
Mr. Unz and his group argue that the two issues are related. They say that once word spreads about a free Harvard education, the number of highly qualified candidates from all backgrounds will spike, and the university will no longer have trouble balancing its class for racial or ethnic diversity.
溫茨和他的團體認爲，這兩個問題是關聯的。他們稱，一旦哈佛免學費的消息傳開，來自各種背景的高水平候選者都會大幅增加，大學將不再存在平衡族裔多樣性的問題。
And if Harvard abolishes tuition for undergrads, Mr. Nader said, “It will ricochet across the Ivy League.”
而如果哈佛爲本科生免除學費，納德說，“影響就將波及所有常春藤盟校。”
Maybe. Officials at Harvard suggested that even if the slate were to win, the idea is a nonstarter, pointing out that the endowment is split into thousands of funds designated for specific uses that have nothing to do with undergraduates.
也許吧。哈佛的管理層表示，即使這個團體成功，他們的這個想法也是天方夜譚。他們指出，哈佛的捐款分爲數千個基金，它們各有具體用途，與本科生沒有關係。
“There is a common misconception that endowments, including Harvard’s, can be accessed like bank accounts, used for anything at any time as long as funds are available,” Jeff Neal, a Harvard spokesman, said. “In reality, Harvard’s flexibility in spending from the endowment is limited by the fact that it must be maintained in perpetuity and that it is largely restricted by the explicit wishes of those who contributed the endowed funds.”
“有一個普遍的誤解，就是包括哈佛在內的大學收到的捐款可以像有了一個銀行賬戶一樣隨取隨用，只要錢沒有用完就行。”哈佛的一位發言人傑夫·尼爾(Jeff Neal)說，“事實上，哈佛在使用捐款時的靈活度受到很多限制，第一是必須是永續管理，第二是捐贈者的意願。”
Mr. Neal also said that although tuition is high, Harvard, like many universities with large endowments, is generous with financial aid, awarding more than $1.4 billion to undergraduates in the past decade.
尼爾還說，雖然學費很高，但是像很多收到大筆捐款的大學一樣，哈佛提供慷慨的助學金，在過去十年向本科生授予的助學金已超過14億美元。
But Mr. Unz believes that even with the potential aid, prospective low-income applicants may be discouraged by the published tuition of $45,000 a year.
但是溫茨認爲，即使有可能獲得助學金，有望入學的低收入申請者仍然會因公開的4.5萬美元一年的學費而感到氣餒。
Mr. Unz, whose 2012 data analysis of admissions at Harvard and other Ivy League institutions is cited in the case against the university, said his slate was not pressing to abolish affirmative action at Harvard, it was seeking only to get more information. But several members of the group are known for their past advocacy against using race in admissions.
溫茨在2012年對哈佛和其他常春藤聯盟院校的錄取數據進行了分析，並以此反駁哈佛的說法。他表示，他的團隊並不是向哈佛施壓，要求廢除平權措施，他們只是希望得到更多的信息。然而，該團體中的一些成員曾經公開反對把族裔因素納入錄取考量之中。
One is Lee C. Cheng, chief legal counsel for the online electronics retailer , who is co-founder of an organization that filed a brief in support of the white plaintiff in the lawsuit against the University of Texas that is before the Supreme Court.
鄭立（Lee C. Cheng，音）就是其中之一。他是在線電子零售商新蛋網()的首席法律顧問，聯合創建的一家組織曾向最高法院遞交過一份訴訟摘要文件，以支持一名白人原告對德克薩斯大學的訴訟。
Mr. Cheng is also quoted in the suit against Harvard, which was brought by Students for Fair Admissions.
在“大學生公平錄取”(Students for Fair Admissions)組織對哈佛的訴訟中，也提及了鄭立。
Another member of the slate is Stuart Taylor Jr., a former reporter for The New York Times who is co-author of a 2012 book contending that affirmative action harms minority students. And another is Stephen Hsu, a physicist and vice president at Michigan State University who has written against the use of race in college admissions.
該團體的另一個成員小斯圖亞特·泰勒(Stuart Taylor Jr.)曾是《紐約時報》的記者。2012年，他與人合著了一本書，認爲平權行動傷害了少數族裔學生。另一個成員史蒂芬·許(Stephen Hsu)是密歇根州立大學的物理學家和副校長，他也撰文反對將種族因素納入大學招錄之中。
Mr. Nader, who got his law degree from Harvard, said the admissions system has been “bollixed up for decades” by legacies and other preferences.
在哈佛獲得法學學位的納德稱，因爲傳承原因和其他偏好，招錄系統“這幾十年來早已一片混亂”。
In court documents filed in the Fisher case, Harvard says a victory for the plaintiffs in the Students for Fair Admissions lawsuit would overturn its efforts to build a racially diverse class.
費舍爾案的庭審文件中，哈佛稱，假如大學生公平錄取組織一案中的原告贏得訴訟，就會逆轉該校爲建立種族多元的校園所做出的努力。
The Board of Overseers, with 30 members elected for rotating six-year terms, is the second most powerful board at the university. Members are generally elected from nominees selected by the Harvard Alumni Association.
由30個成員組成、每六年重新選舉的哈佛大學監事會是哈佛權力第二大的委員會。成員大多經由哈佛校友會(Harvard Alumni Association)提名後選舉產生。
To be placed on the ballot, other candidates must get petitions signed this month by 201 Harvard alumni.
爲了進入投票環節，其他候選人必須在本月獲得201位哈佛校友的簽字推薦。
Mr. Unz, who these days is busy collecting signatures, believes his group stands a good chance. Part of his strategy apparently relies on low turnout among the 320,000 or so alumni, combined with the hope that an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Asian-American graduates will be energized by the “Fair Harvard” plank.
這些天，溫茨正忙於蒐集簽字。他認爲他的團體的機會很大。顯然，他的策略一方面取決於總人數32萬左右的哈佛校友參與投票比例較低，另一方面要寄希望於“公平哈佛”的呼聲能夠讓爲數一萬五到兩萬的亞裔美國校友振奮起來。
