Jian Li
Encyclopedia
Jian Li is a Chinese
undergraduate student at Harvard University
, who transferred from Yale University
, where he first studied. Li, who holds Chinese citizenship
, is a US permanent resident
who immigrated
with his family to the United States
at the age of four. In November 2006, he filed a civil rights
complaint against Princeton University
with the Office for Civil Rights, claiming that his heritage played a role in their decision to reject his application for admission, and seeking the suspension of federal financial assistance to the university until it "discontinues discrimination against Asian American
s in all forms" by eliminating race and legacy preferences
.
in the top 1% of his class, having received a perfect score of 2400 on the SAT
, as well as perfect or near-perfect scores on SAT Subject Tests
in math
level 2, physics
, and chemistry
.
in university admissions would lead to 80% of placements currently offered to black and Latino students instead being given to Asian American
s.
Li filed the complaint to "send a message to the admissions committee to be more cognizant of possible bias, and that the way they're conducting admissions is not equitable." Though Li is not seeking any personal compensation, his complaint calls for the suspension of federal financial assistance to Princeton until it "discontinues discrimination against Asian-Americans in all forms" by eliminating race and legacy preferences.
and China's People's Daily
, as well as a supportive opinion piece written by Townhall.com
columnist Larry Elder
. Li also stated that students at Brown University
had contacted him in an effort to start a nationwide campus movement to end discrimination against Asian Americans. However, student writers were less sympathetic. Li's fellow Yale student Jonathan Pitts-Wiley wrote a column in The Daily Princetonian
which accused him of "unnecessarily racializ[ing] a personal defeat".
under the pseudonym "Lian Ji", in which the writer, parodying Li's attitude and experiences, wrote:
Campus groups and alumni criticized the content as an expression of anti-Asian bigotry. Vice President for Student Life Janet S. Dickerson stated that "The Prince exercised poor judgment in including offensive material in this year's joke issue." Chanakya Sethi, then editor-in-chief of the Princetonian, wrote a statement of regret two days after the publication of the original article, claiming that the article was an attempt at humor, had no racist intention behind it, and had "provoked serious thought about issues of race, fairness and diversity." He also noted that the editorial board of the Princetonian included several Asians. At least one South Asian student journalist at Harvard expressed his support for Sethi, and accused critics of "constantly pulling [the issue] towards their own prejudices. However, prominent Asian Americans rejected Sethi's explanation. Jeff Yang
, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle
and member of the Asian American Journalists Association
, denounced the statement of regret as a "creative nonapology", while author Chang-rae Lee
, who also teaches creative writing at Princeton, stated that the article "employed the easiest, basest stereotypes of culture
and character and voice for its sensational aims, offering little more than the most juvenile gloss on the issues ... frankly, the piece astounds me not so much for its racism as its stupidity." The controversy was quickly picked up by national newspapers; Li himself characterized the article as "extremely distasteful" in an Associated Press
interview, stating that "whoever decided to publish it showed an extreme lapse of judgment".
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
undergraduate student at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, who transferred from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he first studied. Li, who holds Chinese citizenship
Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China
The Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China regulates citizenship in the People's Republic of China . Such citizenship is obtained by birth when at least one parent is of Chinese nationality or by naturalization....
, is a US permanent resident
United States Permanent Resident Card
United States lawful permanent residency refers to a person's immigration status: the person is authorized to live and work in the United States of America on a permanent basis....
who immigrated
Chinese immigration to the United States
Chinese American history is the history of Chinese Americans or the history of ethnic Chinese in the United States. Chinese immigration to the U.S. consisted of three major waves, with the first beginning in the 19th century. Chinese immigrants in the 19th century worked as laborers, particularly...
with his family to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the age of four. In November 2006, he filed a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
complaint against Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
with the Office for Civil Rights, claiming that his heritage played a role in their decision to reject his application for admission, and seeking the suspension of federal financial assistance to the university until it "discontinues discrimination against Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
s in all forms" by eliminating race and legacy preferences
Legacy preferences
Legacy preferences or legacy admission is a type of preference given by educational institutions to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution...
.
Academic background
Li grew up in ChangSha, China and graduated from Livingston High SchoolLivingston High School (New Jersey)
Livingston High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Livingston, in Essex County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Livingston Public Schools. It receives all eighth grade graduates from Heritage Middle School...
in the top 1% of his class, having received a perfect score of 2400 on the SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
, as well as perfect or near-perfect scores on SAT Subject Tests
SAT Subject Tests
SAT Subject Tests is the name for 20 multiple-choice standardized tests given on individual subjects, usually taken to improve a student's credentials for admission to colleges in the United States. Students typically choose which tests to take depending upon college entrance requirements for the...
in math
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
level 2, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
.
Filing of complaint
Li came to the decision to file a civil rights complaint against Princeton after reading studies by Princeton researchers which claimed that ending affirmative actionAffirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
in university admissions would lead to 80% of placements currently offered to black and Latino students instead being given to Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
s.
Li filed the complaint to "send a message to the admissions committee to be more cognizant of possible bias, and that the way they're conducting admissions is not equitable." Though Li is not seeking any personal compensation, his complaint calls for the suspension of federal financial assistance to Princeton until it "discontinues discrimination against Asian-Americans in all forms" by eliminating race and legacy preferences.
Reaction to the case
Li's case received several instances of media attention in late 2006, including coverage in The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
and China's People's Daily
People's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
, as well as a supportive opinion piece written by Townhall.com
Townhall.com
Townhall.com is a web-based publication primarily dedicated to conservative United States politics. It was previously operated by the Heritage Foundation, but is now owned and operated by Salem Communications...
columnist Larry Elder
Larry Elder
Laurence Allen "Larry" Elder is an American radio and television personality. His radio program The Larry Elder Show airs weekdays 9 AM to noon on talk radio 790 KABC in Los Angeles, California...
. Li also stated that students at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
had contacted him in an effort to start a nationwide campus movement to end discrimination against Asian Americans. However, student writers were less sympathetic. Li's fellow Yale student Jonathan Pitts-Wiley wrote a column in The Daily Princetonian
The Daily Princetonian
The Daily Princetonian is the daily independent student newspaper of Princeton University. It is published five days a week from September to May and three days a week during the University's Reading Period in January and May.- Finances :...
which accused him of "unnecessarily racializ[ing] a personal defeat".
Parody article in the Daily Princetonian
Later, on January 17, 2007, the Daily Princetonian published, in its annual joke issue, an alleged guest opinion column written in mock ChinglishChinglish
Chinglish refers to spoken or written English language that is influenced by the Chinese language. The term "Chinglish" is commonly applied to ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and may have pejorative or deprecating connotations, reflecting the attitudes of those who apply...
under the pseudonym "Lian Ji", in which the writer, parodying Li's attitude and experiences, wrote:
- "I so good at math and science ... I the super smart Asian. Princeton the super dumb college, not accept me ... My dad from Kung PaoKung Pao chickenGong Bao chicken , a late Qing Dynasty official. Born in Guizhou, Ding served as head of Shandong province and later as governor of Sichuan province. His title was Gōng Bǎo , or palatial guardian. The name "Kung Pao" chicken is derived from this title....
province. I united 500 years of Rice Wars ... I love Yale. Lots of bulldogs here for me to eat."
Campus groups and alumni criticized the content as an expression of anti-Asian bigotry. Vice President for Student Life Janet S. Dickerson stated that "The Prince exercised poor judgment in including offensive material in this year's joke issue." Chanakya Sethi, then editor-in-chief of the Princetonian, wrote a statement of regret two days after the publication of the original article, claiming that the article was an attempt at humor, had no racist intention behind it, and had "provoked serious thought about issues of race, fairness and diversity." He also noted that the editorial board of the Princetonian included several Asians. At least one South Asian student journalist at Harvard expressed his support for Sethi, and accused critics of "constantly pulling [the issue] towards their own prejudices. However, prominent Asian Americans rejected Sethi's explanation. Jeff Yang
Jeff Yang
Jeff Yang is an American writer and business/media consultant who writes the "Tao Jones" column for the Wall Street Journal. Previously, he was the "Asian Pop" columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle. Yang lives in New York City...
, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
and member of the Asian American Journalists Association
Asian American Journalists Association
The Asian American Journalists Association was founded in 1981 by several Asian American journalists who felt a need to support greater participation by Asian Americans in the news media.Its goals are:...
, denounced the statement of regret as a "creative nonapology", while author Chang-rae Lee
Chang-Rae Lee
Chang-rae Lee is a Korean American novelist and a professor of creative writing at Princeton University, where he has served as the director of Princeton's Program in Creative Writing.-Early life:...
, who also teaches creative writing at Princeton, stated that the article "employed the easiest, basest stereotypes of culture
Stereotypes of Asians
Stereotypes of East Asians are ethnic stereotypes found in Western societies. Stereotypes of East Asians, like other ethnic stereotypes, are often manifest in a society's media, literature, theater and other creative expressions...
and character and voice for its sensational aims, offering little more than the most juvenile gloss on the issues ... frankly, the piece astounds me not so much for its racism as its stupidity." The controversy was quickly picked up by national newspapers; Li himself characterized the article as "extremely distasteful" in an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
interview, stating that "whoever decided to publish it showed an extreme lapse of judgment".