They are going to be in a lot of trouble if they are using upper-limit quotas outright. Quotas, then intangibles and geographic diversity were once used to limit the number of Jews at top universities (Jews being largely in urban areas in the Northeast and the West Coast). There'd be a huge uproar if it could be shown that similar policies were being used to limit the number of Jews at top universities today.
Some kind of sense of fairness in the admissions process, even accounting for considerations of diversity is still something that colleges strive for, and if they discriminate, in some forms it is illegal and even when it's not, there's so much public money involved that they would still have to consider public opinion.
There's also a straw man in your Latino example. Set aside groups that are treated favorably for reasons of diversity. Probably the two largest groups we're left with are whites and Asians. Whites aren't underrepresented, but this study is implying that it probably is significantly easier for someone white to get into a top school than it is for someone Asian. How do you choose between the two based on diversity when neither is underrepresented?
They are going to be in a lot of trouble if they are using upper-limit quotas outright. Quotas, then intangibles and geographic diversity were once used to limit the number of Jews at top universities (Jews being largely in urban areas in the Northeast and the West Coast). There'd be a huge uproar if it could be shown that similar policies were being used to limit the number of Jews at top universities today.
Some kind of sense of fairness in the admissions process, even accounting for considerations of diversity is still something that colleges strive for, and if they discriminate, in some forms it is illegal and even when it's not, there's so much public money involved that they would still have to consider public opinion.
There's also a straw man in your Latino example. Set aside groups that are treated favorably for reasons of diversity. Probably the two largest groups we're left with are whites and Asians. Whites aren't underrepresented, but this study is implying that it probably is significantly easier for someone white to get into a top school than it is for someone Asian. How do you choose between the two based on diversity when neither is underrepresented?