Harvard University representatives spent the first week of the trail defending itself against accusations of discrimination against Asian-American applicants. We're starting to get a clearer picture of how both the defense and the plaintiffs are making their cases. Here's a brief summary of the issue: A group called Students for Fair Admissions is suing Harvard, saying the school has higher standards for Asian-Americans applicants and ranks them lower on intangible qualities like leadership capability.

The basics of the case:

  • SFFA is led by Edward Blum, who helped organize a similar lawsuit that accused the University of Texas' use of race in consideration of admissions was unconstitutional.
  • Harvard denies the accusations, saying they value diversity and pointing out that Asian-Americans make up 23 percent of their current student body.

Here's what was covered in week one:

  • The first few days of the trial were focused on Harvard's Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons was asked about a 2013 internal investigation that found in some cases Asian-American applicants were described with terms like "quiet, shy or science or math oriented."
  • Harvard's lawyers pointed to a 1990 Office for Civil Rights report that found while descriptions of a few Asian-American applicants could be considered stereotyping, they could not be shown to have damaged student's prospects.
  • On the witness stand, Fitzsimmons said race was never a determining factor in someone's admission, but that it was a help to some applicants when "all other factors were substantially equal."

Who else is testifying ... and who isn't:

  • Fitzsimmons was on the stand from Monday until Thursday. Since then, Students for Fair Admissions has called other officials who work in admissions, including Marlyn McGrath, the director of admissions for Harvard College.
  • But it may be more notable who's not testifying: the actual plaintiffs, none of whom will be providing testimony. On Thursday, Judge Allison Burroughs asked if there would be any evidence presented from plaintiffs who applied. Harvard's lawyers said there would not and SFFA's lawyers did not object. After court adjourned for the day, Bill Lee, one of the lawyers representing Harvard, said he has never been involved in a case where a plaintiff hasn't testified.
  • Harvard will have student testimony later in the trial, they have already presented application documents from students to highlight how they say their admissions process evaluates students as a whole.

What to expect next week:

  • Harvard’s lawyers are also trying to weaken the university’s own institutional research that, five years ago, found admissions officials, on average, scored white applicants significantly higher on personality traits than Asian-Americans. One problem, Harvard says, is that the results were preliminary, another is that the researchers hadn’t worked in admissions before.
  • Drew Faust, the former President of Harvard, is expected to be called to testify sometime next week. The trial is expected to last around another two weeks.