Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College et al

Filing 454

DECLARATION of Michael Connolly in Support of SFFA's Opposition to Harvard's Motion for Summary Judgment by Students for Fair Admissions, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 262, # 2 Exhibit 263, # 3 Exhibit 264, # 4 Exhibit 265, # 5 Exhibit 266, # 6 Exhibit 267, # 7 Exhibit 268, # 8 Exhibit 269, # 9 Exhibit 270, # 10 Exhibit 271, # 11 Exhibit 272, # 12 Exhibit 273, # 13 Exhibit 274, # 14 Exhibit 275, # 15 Exhibit 276, # 16 Exhibit 277, # 17 Exhibit 278, # 18 Exhibit 279, # 19 Exhibit 280, # 20 Exhibit 281, # 21 Exhibit 282, # 22 Exhibit 283, # 23 Exhibit 284, # 24 Exhibit 285)(Consovoy, William) (Additional attachment(s) added on 7/31/2018: # 25 Unredacted DECLARATION of Michael Connolly in Support of SFFA's Opposition to Harvard's Motion for Summary Judgment (Filed Under Seal), # 26 Exhibit 262 (Filed Under Seal), # 27 Exhibit 263 (Filed Under Seal), # 28 Exhibit 264 (Filed Under Seal), # 29 Exhibit 265 (Filed Under Seal), # 30 Exhibit 266 (Filed Under Seal), # 31 Exhibit 267 (Filed Under Seal), # 32 Exhibit 268 (Filed Under Seal), # 33 Exhibit 269 (Filed Under Seal), # 34 Exhibit 270 (Filed Under Seal), # 35 Exhibit 271 (Filed Under Seal), # 36 Exhibit 272 (Filed Under Seal), # 37 Exhibit 273 (Filed Under Seal), # 38 Exhibit 274 (Filed Under Seal), # 39 Exhibit 275 (Filed Under Seal), # 40 Exhibit 276 (Filed Under Seal), # 41 Exhibit 277 (Filed Under Seal), # 42 Exhibit 278 (Filed Under Seal), # 43 Exhibit 279 (Filed Under Seal), # 44 Exhibit 280 (Filed Under Seal), # 45 Exhibit 281 (Filed Under Seal), # 46 Exhibit 282 (Filed Under Seal), # 47 Exhibit 283 (Filed Under Seal), # 48 Exhibit 284 (Filed Under Seal), # 49 Exhibit 285 (Filed Under Seal)) (McDonagh, Christina).

EXHIBIT 275

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

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BOSTON DIVISION

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Civil Action No. 1:14-cv-14176-ADB
______________________________________________________

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DEPOSITION OF:

- June 16, 2017

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______________________________________________________

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STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC.,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE

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(HARVARD CORPORATION),

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Defendant.

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______________________________________________________

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PURSUANT TO NOTICE AND SUBPOENA, the

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deposition of

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was taken on behalf of the

Defendant at

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, on June 16, 2017, at 8:54 a.m., before

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Sherry Wallin, Certified Realtime Reporter, Registered

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Merit Reporter and Notary Public within

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Q.

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Did you write this document?
MR. PARK:

Objection.

I'm going to

instruct the witness not to answer that.

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MR. DULBERG:

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MR. PARK:

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work product doctrine.

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8

Q.

Do you know whether

Same objection.

Same

instruction.
Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

Did counsel provide

this document to you for you to sign?

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MR. PARK:

14
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(BY MR. DULBERG)

MR. PARK:

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Attorney-client privilege,

this document was drafted by counsel?

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On what grounds?

Q.

Same instruction.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

Did you review this

document before you signed it?

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MR. PARK:

You can answer that.

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A.

I did.

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

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changes to this document before you signed it?

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MR. PARK:

Objection, and instruct the

witness not to answer that.

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Did you make any

MR. DULBERG:

On attorney-client

privilege and work product?

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MR. PARK:

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Q.

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Yeah.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

Yes.
Sitting here today, is

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everything in this declaration true and accurate?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

So if we look at the very first line of

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the declaration, it begins, "I, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

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Section 1746, declare the following."

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correctly?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

Do you know what 28 U.S.C. Section 1746

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A.

I do not.

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Q.

Did you ask anyone what that language

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Did I read that

is?

referred to before you signed this document?

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MR. PARK:

Objection.

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A.

No.

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

You can answer.

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Does it concern you at

all that you signed this without making that inquiry?

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MR. PARK:

Objection.

You can answer.

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A.

It didn't really concern me, no.

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

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Are there any other

parts of this declaration that you do not understand?

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MR. PARK:

Objection.

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A.

No.

I understand everything else.

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

Okay.

And we've

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already talked about your plan to enroll at

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the fall.

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It's discussed in paragraph 5.
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Do you see

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that?

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A.

Um-hum -- yes.

3

Q.

We've also discussed paragraph 4.

And

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so that's true, correct, the statements in paragraph 4

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are true?

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MR. PARK:

Objection.

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

You can answer.

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paragraph 6.

Okay.

Let's look at

Can you read that out loud for the

record?

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A.

"I am able and ready to apply to

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transfer to Harvard were it to cease the use of race

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or ethnicity as an admissions preference and to cease

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its intentional discrimination against Asian

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Americans."

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17

Q.

Is that a true statement as of May 26,

2017, when you signed this declaration?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

Is it a true statement today?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

What does this statement mean?

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A.

What it means to me is that if Harvard

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were to stop using its use of race and ethnicity in

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admissions, I would think my chances of being admitted

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had risen enough, because of that change, that I would

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apply again for transfer to see if I could get in

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under the new system.

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4

Q.

But under the current system you have no

intent to apply to transfer; is that correct?

5

A.

That's correct.

6

Q.

Is it just if Harvard were to cease the

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use of race as an admissions process, then you would

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intend to apply to transfer to Harvard?

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A.

Yes.

10

Q.

This statement also contains a

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reference, as you just read, to ceasing its

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intentional discrimination against Asian Americans.

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Do you see that?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

Do you believe that Harvard

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intentionally discriminates against Asian Americans in

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its college admissions process?

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A.

I do believe so.

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Q.

Do you believe that admissions officers

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are biased against Asian Americans?

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MR. PARK:

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A.

Objection.

You can answer.

I don't know what the mental process is

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behind it, but I am fairly sure that they set a higher

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bar for Asian Americans.

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any personal dislike for Asian Americans or not, but

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I don't know if they have

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you've had with other SFFA members?

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MR. PARK:

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witness not to answer.

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Q.

Objection.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

Instruct the

You mentioned an email

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in which you asked Mr. Blum whether you could assist

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with the standing issue.

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had corresponded with SFFA regarding your possible

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service as a standing member?

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MR. PARK:

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A.

Yes.

Was that the first time you

Objection.

That was -- I'm sorry.

Could you

repeat that?

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

You described an email

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to Mr. Blum in which you asked whether you could help

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provide SFFA with standing, correct?

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A.

Um-hum -- yes.

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Q.

And my question is, was that the first

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time you corresponded with anyone from SFFA regarding

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your possible role as a standing member in this

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litigation?

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MR. PARK:

Objection.

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A.

Yes.

That was the first time.

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

You write in

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paragraph 9 of your declaration, which is Exhibit 1,

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"They have answered my questions and afforded me the

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opportunity to have input and direction on SFFA's

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case."

Do you see that?

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A.

Yes.

3

Q.

And what does that mean?

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A.

So what that means to me is obviously

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they have answered my questions.

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curious about this, asked a lot of questions, and

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they've answered them thoroughly.

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9

I've been very

And having input and direction, I have
suggested things to them about, like, possible

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arguments to make in the lawsuit or -- I've actually

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had more input -- I've given them more input about

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future lawsuits to bring.

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I haven't had to, like, give them much

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input, because I think SFFA is doing a very good job

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in representing its interests and my interests in the

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case.

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would do differently.

So I haven't had to, like, tell them what I

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MR. PARK:

Thank you.

I again caution

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the witness not to disclose contents of communications

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with lawyers.

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

Setting aside your

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communications with lawyers, which Mr. Park and I

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agree are off limits, what input have you provided

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SFFA with respect to this case, if any?

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A.

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I don't remember giving them a specific
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A.

I don't know of anyone who I know is a

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member.

There may be people who I know who happen to

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be members, but I don't know that they're members.

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Q.

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a meeting of SFFA?

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7

MR. PARK:

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Have you ever attended

You can answer that.

You can

answer.

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9

(BY MR. DULBERG)

A.
revise that.

No, I have not.

Actually, I should

I was on a phone conference for SFFA

this past December.

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Q.

(BY MR. DULBERG)

Is that a phone

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conference that was open to all SFFA members, to the

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best of your knowledge?

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A.

It was.

All SFFA members received an

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email a couple days before that stating there will be

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this phone conference, dial in if you want to attend

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it, and so I did.

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Q.

Was that the only time you were invited

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to participate in a phone conference that all SFFA

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members were invited to?

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A.

Yes.

22

Q.

Do you know whether there have been any

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other phone conferences of SFFA members as a whole?

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25

A.

I don't think there have been any

because, as I said, I have been a member since

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