i can't imagine what the thought process is. >> they're terrified what would happen to their fundraising if they got rid of legacy preference. they believe a lot of alumni donate in the hopes of getting their children into the school. >> according to "the harvard crimson," one-third of last year's freshman class had relatives that went to harvard. legacy admission is deeply entrenched at many top tier schools. to understand what it all began, let me take you back to a troubling chapter from more than a century ago. >> they founded schools that their sons might absorb the accumulation of man's knowledge and wisdom. >> in the early 1900s, the number of applications from jewish boys to elite schools began rising. >> they tended on average to overperform academically and to, you know, have a sort of education-obsessed culture. >> anti-semitism was far more prevalent then and concern grew over the number of jews at ivy league schools. >> they came knocking at the door of the ivies and the ivies were very uncomfortable with that.