A new coalition of students and alumni from 12 top U.S. colleges is asking their schools to rethink legacy admissions policies.

The group issued a letter Wednesday saying the practice of giving an admissions edge to relatives of alumni is rooted in discrimination and fuels cycles of inequity in the United States.

It's signed by campus groups representing first-generation and low-income students at Harvard, Columbia and most other Ivy League schools. Other schools targeted by the campaign include Amherst College and the University of Chicago.