NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - A federal judge has rejected claims that Harvard discriminated against Asian-Americans in admissions, saying that the university had a right to choose a diverse class.

The challenge to the university's admissions process came from a group hoping to overturn a long-standing Supreme Court precedent that allows race to be considered as one factor among many, but prohibits universities from using quotas in admissions.

The judge, Allison Burroughs, rejected the argument that Harvard was using affirmative action as a weapon against some races and a boon to others, and said that the university met the strict judicial standard for considering race in its admissions process.

In her decision, Burroughs gave an eloquent defence of the benefits of diversity, and said that while the time might come when it would be possible to look beyond race in college admissions, that time was not yet here.

"For purposes of this case, at least for now, ensuring diversity at Harvard relies, in part, on race conscious admissions," the judge said.

"The students who are admitted to Harvard and choose to attend will live and learn surrounded by all sorts of people, with all sorts of experiences, beliefs and talents. They will have the opportunity to know and understand one another beyond race, as whole individuals with unique histories and experiences.

"It is this, at Harvard and elsewhere that will move us, one day, to the point where we see that race is a fact, but not the defining fact and not the fact that tells us what is important, but we are not there yet."

The plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit representing a group of Asian-American students rejected by Harvard, had accused the college of violating federal civil rights law by holding Asian-Americans, who as a group get better test scores and grades than other races, to a higher standard.

The three-week trial last October set off a national discussion about the role of race and ethnicity in college admissions.