Professor Larson Publishes Chapter in New Book on Legacy Preference Admissions
Professor Carlton Larson contributed to Affirmative Action for the Rich, a new book on legacy preferences in university admissions. Edited by Richard D. Kahlenberg and published by the Century Foundation, the book has drawn attention from media including Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Professor Larson contributes a historical perspective to the discussion, making the case that legacy preferences at public universities violate a constitutional provision barring states from granting "any Title of Nobility." Professor Larson asserts that this provision was meant as a broad prohibition against all "government-sponsored hereditary privileges."
"Legacy preferences at exclusive public universities were precisely the type of hereditary privilege that the Revolutionary generation sought to destroy forever," writes Professor Larson.
Carlton Larson's research interests focus on constitutional law and legal history, with a strong emphasis on the 18th century.