For elite universities in particular, I doubt they care about racial equity for its own sake. Instead, it's a component of their strategic interests, to wit: 1

For elite universities in particular, I doubt they care about racial equity for its own sake. Instead, it's a component of their strategic interests, to wit: 1. Admitting children-of-elites for funding and advancement purposes 2. Admitting extremely high-competent students to build an alumni reputation 3. Maintaining a demographics profile that the general population will see as legitimate Fundamentally, today's racial quotas and preferences are in place for the same reason as why Harvard discriminated against Jewish students in the 1920s and 30s. If they didn't, the university would be seen as an attempt by outside demographic groups to install elites by a significant section of the population.