University of Washington forced by judge to reveal admissions data after rejecting star Asian student

A high-achieving Asian student who sued multiple universities over alleged anti-Asian discrimination in admissions practices has won a legal victory after a judge allowed the lawsuit to move forward.

Stanley Zhong and his father, Nan Zhong, have filed federal lawsuits against multiple universities, including the University of Washington, the University of California, Cornell University, and the University of Michigan. The lawsuits allege that the universities engaged in “racially discriminatory admissions practices that disadvantage highly qualified Asian-American applicants."

In the case against the University of Washington, federal judge James L. Robart denied part of the university defendants’ motion to dismiss, allowing Title VI claims of racial discrimination to proceed.

Nan Zhong told Fox News that the ruling was a major step forward for the lawsuit.

"Effectively, the judge ruled in our favor by denying the university's motion to dismiss. So, this is a major development in the lawsuit,” he said. “That means the judge found enough factual allegations to support our allegation.”

A spokesperson for the University of Washington Board of Regents noted that the judge dismissed other parts of the lawsuit and that “admission to the Allen School is highly competitive, and the vast majority of out-of-state applicants are not admitted because, as Washington’s flagship university, we prioritize Washington residents for admission.”

Stanley Zhong graduated from Palo Alto High School in 2023. He earned a 1,590 out of 1,600 on the SAT and had a 4.42 weighted GPA ranked in the top 9 percent of his graduating class. Despite his academic qualifications, Zhong was rejected by 16 of the 18 colleges that he applied to.

Zhong later obtained a full-time software engineering position at Google. His family has said the position typically requires a PhD or equivalent experience. Google had reportedly been recruiting Zhong since he was 13 years old after he began participating in coding competitions.

The lawsuits are part of a broader debate over the treatment of Asian-American applicants in college admissions. Critics have argued that Asian students can face disadvantages at highly selective universities because their racial demographic is overrepresented, and that they would be accepted if they were part of a more “marginalized group.”

"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," Nan 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."