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

Filing 571

Opposition re 546 MOTION in Limine filed 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)(Waxman, Seth)

EXHIBIT 5

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

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_______________________________

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STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC.,

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Plaintiff,
v.

No. 1:14-cv-14176

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PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF

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HARVARD COLLEGE

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(HARVARD CORPORATION),

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Defendant.

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__________________________

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VIDEO DEPOSITION of WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS

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Boston, Massachusetts

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August 3, 2017

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Reported by:

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Dana Welch, CSR, RPR, CRR, CRC

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Job #127104
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FITZSIMMONS
the race of the student, right?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

So if a white student were active in the

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NAACP, you wouldn't rate that any differently as an

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extracurricular component than you would an African

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American student?

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MS. ELLSWORTH:

Objection.

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A.

No.

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Q.

Can you think of any occasion where race

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would factor into an athletic rating?

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MS. ELLSWORTH:

Objection.

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A.

No.

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Q.

Can you think of a situation where race

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would affect the personal quality rating?

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MS. ELLSWORTH:

Objection.

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A.

Not race per se.

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Q.

What goes into the personal quality

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rating?
A.

It would really be a holistic view

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based -- the reader, readers and then ultimately

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the committee because the committee, you know,

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could get new information, say, an interview may

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come in during committee.

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It would be looking at everything in the
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FITZSIMMONS

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folder:

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counselor and other school personnel and, really,

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anyone else say; someone who'd been involved in a

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community activity when religious activity -- could

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be anything with the student along with interviews,

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obviously, really along with what the student's --

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the life trajectory of the student, where the

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student had grown up, what opportunities the

The impression that the teachers and the

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student had had in his or her family, neighborhood,

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secondary school.

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It would be a complete review of a life

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story, you know, in its entirety.

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in that application that could give us a better

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sense of what kind of an educator that person would

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be of others and really try to project, you know,

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talk about creating citizens and citizen leaders at

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Harvard, but also for the world later.

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Any information

So it's unique for every person and takes
all factors into account.
Q.

I thought you told me that whether someone

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would be a leader and would be a greater citizen at

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Harvard was one of the reasons why Harvard uses

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race.

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MS. ELLSWORTH:

Objection.

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FITZSIMMONS

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quality, taking everything in the folder into

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account?

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MS. ELLSWORTH:

Objection.

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A.

It's simply one part of a person's life.

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Q.

Is it a part that can be taken into

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account when assigning a personal score?

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MS. ELLSWORTH:
A.

Objection.

It depends on how that person -- let's

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say, for example, you had a student who had been

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the subject of discrimination as a result of racial

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and ethnic background.

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school talks about how that student had overcome

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that prejudice and had, let's say for example, gone

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on to try to help other students who had been the

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victims of discrimination and prejudice and perhaps

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helped some of the students who had been a part of

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discrimination and/or harassment in the first

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place.

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a person's race might have interacted with

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circumstances in his or her life, whether it's in

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secondary school or beyond, that would indicate

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that that person might turn out to be a valuable

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leader and classmate at Harvard.

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Q.

And, say, a teacher in the

That -- I'm just giving you an example how

So, in that case, are you evaluating the
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CERTIFICATE

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Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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Suffolk, ss.

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I, Dana Welch, Registered Professional

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Reporter, Certified Realtime Reporter and Notary

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Public in and for the Commonwealth of

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Massachusetts, do hereby certify that WILLIAM

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FITZSIMMONS, the witness whose deposition is

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hereinbefore set forth, was duly sworn by me and

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that such deposition is a true record of the

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testimony given by the witness.

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I further certify that I am neither related

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to nor employed by any of the parties in or counsel

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to this action, nor am I financially interested in

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the outcome of this action.

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In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand and seal this 15th day of August, 2017.

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____________________________
Dana Welch

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Notary Public
My commission expires:

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October 6, 2017

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