Scott Brown: Harvard must fix Native American claim

Photo:  AP

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown called on Harvard University to "correct the record" Friday after reporting for six years that it had a Native American woman in its top law school staff - an apparent reference to Brown’s chief Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren.  Brown said the school may have violated federal guidelines by making the claim on mandated diversity statistics.  

Warren has said she wasn’t aware that Harvard Law School was promoting her as Native American, but the Boston Globe reported that the statistics are typically based on the way employees describe themselves.  "She needs to answer the question ... about why she claimed Native American status when in fact she is not," Brown told reporters Friday. "As a result of that representation, Harvard and other schools relied on it and they’ve made a reporting to the federal government."  "Now that Harvard and others know that she’s not, they need to correct the record," Brown added.

Harvard issued a comment Friday saying the university "adheres to the Department of Education and Department of Labor regulations and guidance concerning the reporting of race and ethnicity."

A Warren campaign spokeswoman said Friday that Warren has already answered "countless questions" about her ancestry and that "it’s time to focus on the important issues facing Massachusetts."  "The fact that Elizabeth noted her heritage in a professional publication has been made public and addressed by Elizabeth on multiple occasions," Warren spokeswoman Alethea Harney said in a statement."  Warren on Thursday again said she has Native American ancestry, saying she was told of her background by her mother.  "This is how I live," she said. Her campaign has been unable to offer direct documentary proof of that ancestry.  Warren also said Brown’s focus on her heritage is a way of distracting from the economic issues that matter most to Massachusetts families.  "Scott Brown has launched attacks on my family. I am not backing off from my family," Warren added.

Brown, a Republican, said he was "offended" by Warren’s comments, saying there’s no evidence that he’s ever attacked her family, calling it "a wild and baseless charge."  "This Native American controversy is a problem of Elizabeth Warren’s own making," Brown said.  Brown’s campaign has zeroed in on the Native American issue in recently weeks, accusing Warren of trying to use the claims to gain an unfair hiring advantage.

Full article can be seen here:  http://bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view/20120525scott_brown_harvard_must_fix_native_american_claim