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

Filing 455

MOTION for Leave to File to Participate as Amici Curiae by Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students Association, Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, Fuerza Latina of Harvard, Native Americans At Harvard College, Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association, Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Women's Association, Harvard Asian American Brotherhood, Harvard Vietnamese Association, Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students Association, Harvard Korean Association, Harvard Japan Society, Harvard South Asian Association, Harvard Islamic Society, Task Force on Asian and Pacific American Studies at Harvard College, Harvard Phillips Brooks House Association, Harvard Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students, Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, First Generation Harvard Alumni, Native American Alumni of Harvard University, Harvard University Muslim Alumni, Harvard Latino Alumni Alliance. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Amicus Brief by Harvard Student and Alumni Organizations in Support of Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, # 2 Exhibit Declaration, # 3 Exhibit Declaration, # 4 Exhibit Declaration, # 5 Exhibit Declaration, # 6 Exhibit Declaration, # 7 Exhibit Declaration, # 8 Exhibit Declaration, # 9 Exhibit Declaration, # 10 Exhibit Declaration, # 11 Exhibit Declaration, # 12 Exhibit Declaration, # 13 Exhibit Declaration, # 14 Exhibit Declaration, # 15 Exhibit Declaration, # 16 Exhibit Declaration, # 17 Exhibit Declaration)(Thayer, Kenneth)

EXHIBIT 14

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
BOSTON DIVISION

STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC,
Plaintiff,
v.

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

PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF
HARVARD COLLEGE (HARVARD
CORPORATION),
Defendant.

DECLARATION OF DANIEL LOBO
(FIRST-GENERATION HARVARD ALUMNI)
Daniel Lobo, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1746, declares the following:
1.

My name is Daniel Lobo and I am the President of the First-Generation Harvard

Alumni (“FGHA”).
2.

I am submitting this declaration individually and on behalf of FGHA.

3.

FGHA is an alumni shared interest group of the Harvard Alumni Association with

a global membership of 1000+ volunteers.
4.

FGHA was founded in 2012, at a moment when first-generation, low-income

students—students whose parents did not graduate from a 4-year college or university—came into
focus at colleges and universities across the country. While well-resourced colleges and
universities have dramatically improved their recruitment of these students in the past decade, they

have not thought as carefully about how to fully support these students once on campus to
maximize their chances of success. FGHA was created to help solve this problem.
5.

FGHA was originally founded as a mentorship program that pairs first-generation

Harvard alumni with first-generation, first-year students at Harvard College. To date, more than
350 FGHA mentors have provided support and guidance to over 500 first-generation Harvard
students.
6.

Outside of this flagship program, FGHA has supported the community building and

advocacy efforts of the Harvard College First-Generation Student Union (“FSGU”), including
Thanksgiving dinner events for students who cannot afford to go home for the holidays and a
special graduation ceremony honoring these students and the families who helped them make it to
this day.
7.

The advocacy efforts of the FSGU have influenced Harvard to commit institutional

resources to support the success of this less privileged population, such as the Harvard FirstGeneration Program and, most recently, a pilot summer orientation program for incoming firstgeneration, low-income students.
8.

The First-Generation Harvard Alumni group is proud to support this student

activism, which has made Harvard a more inclusive and more vibrant community for everyone.
9.

As the first institutional alumni group of our kind, FGHA feels a responsibility to

further advocacy on behalf of first-generation students beyond the walls of Harvard yard. At this
year’s

Fourth

annual

conference

of

the

inter-Ivy,

first-generation

college

student

network (“1vyG”)—a convening of students, alumni, and administrators from 20+ institutions
across the country—FGHA began a broader community organizing effort among first-generation
alumni with the help of student activists. We believe that this movement, like its student

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counterpart, has the potential to expand the perspective of some of our nation’s most influential
institutions, which we now occupy as college graduates, during a moment in history when our
most fundamental democratic values are being challenged.
10.

FGHA has an interest in the SFFA v. President and Fellows of Harvard College

case because our members are the direct beneficiaries of Harvard’s holistic, admissions review
process and the resulting diversity that we experienced on campus once admitted. FGHA is an
incredibly diverse community: a mosaic of intersecting identities along nationality, race,
socioeconomic status, faith, discipline, and occupation. We are leaders in business, in science and
technology, in government and diplomacy, in healthcare and medicine, in education and public
service, in arts and entertainment, and more. But, in conjunction with this diversity, we all share
one unique quality in common: we each have a story of courage and resolve that illustrates an often
unrecognized potential to add value to the world. None of us began our journey from a place of
leadership or influence. We began as everyday Americans, often from immigrant families and/or
the working class, spanning from the streets of the Inland Empire, to the dairy farms of Wisconsin,
to Unorganized Territory #60 in Maine. Harvard’s holistic admissions process recognized the
value in our stories as first-generation students from many backgrounds. That recognition has
enabled us to do great things, including supporting the generations that will follow us.
11.

For many of our members, their racial and ethnic heritage is intimately entwined

with the experiences and challenges that made them who they are. We are, therefore, deeply
concerned that if SFFA succeeds, a new generation of stories will go unheard and a new set of
solutions to our most pressing problems will remain untapped. We will lose a generation of leaders
who are committed to reaching back as they push the world forward. This has negative
implications, not just for Harvard, but for the public interest more broadly.

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I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on this day, July 21, 2018

/s/Daniel Lobo
Daniel Lobo

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