This is what happens when conservatives open a can of worms:  The US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, tasked with making sure federally-funded educational institutions do not discriminate against students, has opened an investigation into unfair admissions favorability for legacy students at Harvard, the Boston Herald reports.

The announcement comes weeks after the Republican-dominated US Supreme Court rejected race-based criteria as a factor in admissions, saying that one’s birth status should not trump academic credentials as the sole basis for admission.  Education advocates quickly pointed out that the children of wealthy alumni have a higher admission rate to Harvard regardless of their academic credentials, illustrating another alleged injustice similar to the claimed one used by the Supreme Court to overturn portions of affirmative action for minorities.  Their status as legacies, the argument goes, is an unfair advantage in admissions based on their parents, that other applicants cannot leverage.

A recent study by the New York Times showed that two groups are more likely to gain admission to Harvard based on their financial status: the underprivileged and applicants from wealthy families that have an existing connection to the University.  In comparing applicants with similar academic records and test scores, the Times study found applicants from middle-class families underrepresented in Harvard’s admissions classes, who were denied admission to accommodate less qualified legacies.