Nov 18, 2014 02:28 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Lawsuits filed against Harvard and the University of North Carolina (UNC) accuse the schools' affirmative action policies of taking opportunities away from prospective white and Asian-American students.

According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit against Harvard goes on further to say that the Ivy League institution deliberately limits the amount of Asian-Americans it admits. The lawsuit against UNC is related to the review the school filed in 2012 in the Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin affirmative action case.

The Project on Fair Representation (PFR) filed both lawsuits Monday and listed "Students for Fair Admissions," a nonprofit group in Austin, Texas for recently rejected college applicants, as the plaintiff for each.

An Alexandria, Va.-based legal defense fund, PFR said the two suits will part of a larger national movement to challenge affirmative action in academia across the U.S.

"Allowing this issue to be litigated in case after case will only perpetuate the hostilities that proper consideration of race is designed to avoid," the lawsuits state. "Racial preferences are a dangerous tool and may only be used as a last resort."

UNC released a statement shortly after news of the lawsuits broke.

"The university continues to affirm the educational benefits diversity brings to students, as well as the importance of preparing students for a diverse society and assuring a pool of strong state leaders by admitting undergraduates from every background," Rick White, a spokesman, said.

However, the Harvard lawsuit specifically targeted the "holistic" admissions review the Ivy League school says it uses. The PFR argued that Harvard uses that as a front for making it much more difficult for Asian-American students to gain admission.

"Then and now, the college considers each applicant through an individualized, holistic review having the goal of creating a vibrant academic community that exposes students to a wide-range of differences: background, ideas, experiences, talents and aspirations," Robert Iuliano, Harvard's general counsel, said in a statement.

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