Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College et al
Filing
419
DECLARATION re 417 MOTION for Summary Judgment by President and Fellows of Harvard College. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2, # 3 Exhibit 3, # 4 Exhibit 4, # 5 Exhibit 5, # 6 Exhibit 6, # 7 Exhibit 7, # 8 Exhibit 8, # 9 Exhibit 9, # 10 Exhibit 10, # 11 Exhibit 11, # 12 Exhibit 12, # 13 Exhibit 13, # 14 Exhibit 14, # 15 Exhibit 15, # 16 Exhibit 16, # 17 Exhibit 17, # 18 Exhibit 18, # 19 Exhibit 19, # 20 Exhibit 20, # 21 Exhibit 21, # 22 Exhibit 22, # 23 Exhibit 23, # 24 Exhibit 24, # 25 Exhibit 25, # 26 Exhibit 26, # 27 Exhibit 27, # 28 Exhibit 28, # 29 Exhibit 29, # 30 Exhibit 30, # 31 Exhibit 31, # 32 Exhibit 32, # 33 Exhibit 33, # 34 Exhibit 34, # 35 Exhibit 35, # 36 Exhibit 36, # 37 Exhibit 37, # 38 Exhibit 38, # 39 Exhibit 39, # 40 Exhibit 40, # 41 Exhibit 41, # 42 Exhibit 42, # 43 Exhibit 43, # 44 Exhibit 44, # 45 Exhibit 45, # 46 Exhibit 46, # 47 Exhibit 47, # 48 Exhibit 48, # 49 Exhibit 49, # 50 Exhibit 50, # 51 Exhibit 51, # 52 Exhibit 52, # 53 Exhibit 53, # 54 Exhibit 54, # 55 Exhibit 55, # 56 Exhibit 56, # 57 Exhibit 57, # 58 Exhibit 58, # 59 Exhibit 59, # 60 Exhibit 60, # 61 Exhibit 61, # 62 Exhibit 62, # 63 Exhibit 63, # 64 Exhibit 64, # 65 Exhibit 65, # 66 Exhibit 66, # 67 Exhibit 67, # 68 Exhibit 68, # 69 Exhibit 69, # 70 Exhibit 70, # 71 Exhibit 71, # 72 Exhibit 72, # 73 Exhibit 73, # 74 Exhibit 74, # 75 Exhibit 75, # 76 Exhibit 76, # 77 Exhibit 77, # 78 Exhibit 78, # 79 Exhibit 79, # 80 Exhibit 80, # 81 Exhibit 81, # 82 Exhibit 82, # 83 Exhibit 83, # 84 Exhibit 84, # 85 Exhibit 85, # 86 Exhibit 86, # 87 Exhibit 87, # 88 Exhibit 88, # 89 Exhibit 89, # 90 Exhibit 90, # 91 Exhibit 91, # 92 Exhibit 92, # 93 Exhibit 93, # 94 Exhibit 94, # 95 Exhibit 95, # 96 Exhibit 96, # 97 Exhibit 97)(Ellsworth, Felicia)
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EXHIBIT 21
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
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STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC.,
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Plaintiff,
vs.
Case No.
1:14-cv-14176-ADB
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PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD
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COLLEGE (HARVARD CORPORATION),
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Defendant.
________________________________________________________
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DEPOSITION OF
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Palo Alto, California
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Thursday, July 20, 2017
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Reported By:
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TAVIA A. MANNING
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CSR No. 13294, RPR, CLR, CCRR
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forgot.
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Q.
Have you heard of the name "Abigail Fisher"?
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A.
That sounds familiar.
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Q.
Why do you think that sounds familiar?
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MR. PARK:
Objection.
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THE WITNESS:
I feel like I remember it
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starting with A, her first name.
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starting with A.
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I am not entirely sure.
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Q.
So I guess "Abigail" is a possibility.
BY MS. TSAI:
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But, yeah, something
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Do you have an understanding of when SFFA was
first formed by Mr. Blum?
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MR. PARK:
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THE WITNESS:
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Q.
No, I don't know when exactly.
BY MS. TSAI:
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Objection.
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Do you know -- do you have an idea generally of
when it was formed?
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MR. PARK:
Objection.
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THE WITNESS:
Not too sure.
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BY MS. TSAI:
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Q.
Do you know if your parents are members of
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A.
Not sure.
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Q.
Do you know if you've -- if you have ever met
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SFFA?
any other members of SFFA?
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MR. PARK:
Objection.
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THE WITNESS:
Not that I know of.
Not that I
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can remember.
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BY MS. TSAI:
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Q.
You can't remember meeting any other members of
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A.
Yeah.
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Q.
Have you heard of the Project on Fair
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SFFA?
Representation?
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A.
That sounds familiar to me, but I am not sure
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Q.
Why does it sound familiar to you?
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A.
I feel like it's a name that I have heard or
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if...
read online somewhere.
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Q.
Do you know if the Project on Fair
Representation has any affiliation with SFFA?
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A.
I don't know.
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Q.
Do you know what SFFA's governing structure is?
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MR. PARK:
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THE WITNESS:
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Q.
No.
BY MS. TSAI:
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Objection.
Do you know if SFFA has officers?
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MR. PARK:
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THE WITNESS:
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Objection.
Not sure.
//
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A.
It was called the
Seminar, something
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like that.
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professor come in and present his or her research.
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then towards the end we would also have some time to
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prepare for our own research proposal, which we
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presented at the end of the semester to the rest of the
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class.
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Q.
So every week we would have a different
And
And around how many other students in your
class are in the Scholars Program?
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A.
Including myself, there are 20.
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Q.
That's a pretty select group.
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And you've completed your freshman year so far
at
is that right?
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A.
Yes.
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Q.
What were the classes that you took in your
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first year at
A.
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?
I can just list them all out.
Seminar class,
So I had that
Research Seminar.
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First semester I took data structures in Java, calculus
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III, university writing.
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was called like "Introduction to Mechanics," and then
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general chemistry.
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I think, physics.
I think it
Is that six?
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Q.
Yes.
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A.
Okay, yeah.
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Q.
Have you thought about any schools you might
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consider applying to if you ultimately decide to apply
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to transfer?
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A.
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I was thinking about Harvard, Stanford,
and MIT.
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Yeah.
Q.
Have you looked into MIT's eligibility
requirements for applying to transfer?
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A.
I believe so.
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Q.
Have you looked into Stanford's eligibility
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requirements for applying to transfer?
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A.
I believe so.
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Q.
And have you looked into Harvard's eligibility
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requirements for applying to transfer?
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A.
Not that I can remember.
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Q.
And you testified earlier that you're in this
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Scholars Program; correct?
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A.
Yes.
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Q.
Do you believe that you would receive similar
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benefits that you receive as an
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scholar if you
transferred to another school?
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A.
No.
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Q.
Do you know if Harvard has a program similar to
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the
I believe I would lose those benefits.
Scholars program?
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A.
No, not that I am aware of.
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Q.
Do you know the latest you could apply to
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transfer to another institution?
A.
I believe it would be this year -- this year.
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So, like, in the spring of this year -- of this academic
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year, sorry.
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Q.
So knowing that -- understanding that the
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spring of this upcoming academic year would be the
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latest you could apply to transfer, will the thought of
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deciding whether or not to transfer be a priority in
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your mind as you head into the school year?
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MR. PARK:
Objection.
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THE WITNESS:
No.
I think it's something I
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would consider after probably towards the end of first
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semester, if not afterward.
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BY MS. TSAI:
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Q.
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What do you think would help you decide to --
whether or not you wanted to transfer?
A.
I believe it would be offers for internships
that would be a deciding factor.
Q.
And do you mean offers from internships from
Columbia?
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A.
No, from like outside companies, corporations.
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Q.
Why would that affect whether or not you would
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decide whether to apply to transfer?
A.
Because I feel that if I get an internship from
a company that I would like to work at further down the
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point after they started adding members.
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BY MS. TSAI:
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Q.
And do you recall any other changes that SFFA
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made regarding its members, aside from adding the
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membership fee without -- before you read this document?
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A.
No, I don't know of any.
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Q.
It also says members also have the right to
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elect one of SFFA's directors at its annual meeting.
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Were you aware of a right to elect one of
SFFA's directors at its annual meeting?
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MR. PARK:
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I am just going to instruct the witness not to
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Objection.
answer.
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And I think this line of questions is the same
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as the one I instructed the witness not to answer
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before.
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in front of him doesn't change our basis for the
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instruction.
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And I think just because you've put a document
He doesn't recognize this document.
He said he
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hadn't seen it before, so having him read through these
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things and asking him about it is just as inappropriate
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as asking questions about SFFA's governance in the first
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place.
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MS. TSAI:
Well, Harvard disagrees.
This is a
document that SFFA prepared and attested to in this
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litigation, and I think we're entitled to ask about
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members' rights.
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this, so we'll just state that for the record.
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BY MS. TSAI:
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Q.
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I know that you and I disagree on
Are you taking your counsel's instruction not
to answer?
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A.
Yes.
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Q.
You can turn away from this document.
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Are you aware of any conference calls that SFFA
has convened among its members?
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A.
I am not aware.
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Q.
Before reading this document today, were you
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aware that SFFA had a Board of Directors?
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MR. PARK:
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THE WITNESS:
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MS. TSAI:
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(Deposition Exhibit Number 4 was marked for
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identification.)
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Q.
I was not aware.
Okay.
BY MS. TSAI:
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Objection.
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, I have handed you what's been Bates
stamped SFFA-Harvard 1989 to 1991.
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Have you seen this document before?
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A.
I do not remember seeing this document.
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Q.
Okay.
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That's fine.
We can turn away from it.
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I, the undersigned, a Certified Shorthand
Reporter of the State of California, do hereby certify:
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That the foregoing proceedings were taken
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before me at the time and place herein set forth; that
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any witnesses in the foregoing proceedings, prior to
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testifying, were placed under oath; that a verbatim
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record of the proceedings was made by me using machine
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shorthand which was thereafter transcribed under my
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direction; that the foregoing transcript is a true
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record of the testimony given.
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Further, that if the foregoing pertains to the
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original transcript of a deposition in a Federal Case,
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before completion of the proceedings, review of the
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transcript [] was [X] was not requested.
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I further certify I am neither financially
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interested in the action nor a relative or employee of
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any attorney of any of the party to this action.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have this date
subscribed my name.
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Dated: August 1, 2017
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<%Signature%>
TAVIA A. MANNING
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CSR No. 13294, RPR, CLR, CCRR
25
212-279-9424
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