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1/10 In light of the trenchant @nytopinion piece from the editorial board. nyti.ms/315Avl5, I've written about legacy preferences in college admissions. My piece is here. brook.gs/2LhLt1t. Summary thread follows: 
2/10 Mark your calendars: today could be an important date in the history of U.S. higher education. For the 1st time in its 168-year history, the NY Times Editorial Board has offered an opinion on the practice of legacy preferences in college admissions. brook.gs/2LhLt1t
3/10 The Board rightly lambasts this outdated hereditary principle: brook.gs/2LhLt1t
4/10 Legacy preferences are Affirmative Action for the Rich @RickKahlenberg. The rich know it, too: 2 in 5 affluent Americans support the idea of colleges giving preference to legacies v. to 20% of those making less than $50,000. brook.gs/2LhLt1t
5/10 The timing of the Times’s editorial is auspicious. Work of @John_N_Friedman, Raj Chetty & colleagues at @OppInsights has vividly shown the extent to which elite colleges and universities cater to the children of the rich. brook.gs/2LhLt1t
6/10 There is no good evidence they influence alumni giving (hardly a good argument in any case given their $$) A study of the top 100 national universities (as ranked by U.S. News & World Report), found no connection between giving & alumni preferences. brook.gs/2LhLt1t
7/10 Primary legacy applicants (those with a parent who attended the school) “had a 45 percent higher probability compared with their peers, ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL” (my caps) brook.gs/2LhLt1t
8/10 The idea that a hereditary principle should operate in the selection of students for our most elite colleges is absurd. Legacy preferences are an embarrassment to the institutions who apply them, and by extension to the nation as a whole. brook.gs/2LhLt1t
9/10 Maybe we should use the new endowment tax as a tool to get colleges to be more inclusive, including by ditching legacy preferences, as @Aarondklein & I argued brook.gs/2oiRVcR brook.gs/2LhLt1t
10/10 I hope the strong position taken by the Times will help to stiffen the spines of reformers in our most elite institutions. Legacy preferences are coming to an end. The only questions are when, and how. brook.gs/2LhLt1t
