The affirmative action ‘we don’t talk about’ — 30% of Harvard freshmen are legacies: survey

Mark Huelsman, a senior policy analyst at Demos, a left-leaning think tank, described the propensity of elite institutions to admit wealthy students or those with a familial connection as “the affirmative action we just don’t talk about.”

“We have a country where our titans of industry, or government, or law come from a select few institutions and that’s a problem in and of itself,” he said. “But as long as those institutions entrench privilege in a pretty severe way, that’s a major problem. It means that the ladders of opportunity aren’t there for the vast majority of people.”