The U.S. government says Yale University illegally discriminates against white and Asian-American applicants.
The results of a two-year investigation by the Department of Justice found that the Ivy League University has violated civil rights law in its undergraduate admission process.
The department threatened to file a lawsuit against the university if it failed to take “remedial” measures.
A Yale spokeswoman said the university “categorically” denied the allegations.
The administration of President Donald Trump has been a strong opponent of so-called affirmative action.
The programs, supported by former President Barack Obama, seek to encourage the admission of under-represented minorities, particularly Hispanics and African Americans.
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The Department of Justice’s report, published Thursday, said that while the Supreme Court allows universities that receive taxpayer funding to use race as “one of a number of factors” during admissions, “Yale’s race use is everything. but limited “.
“Yale uses race at multiple stages of its admission process, resulting in a multiplier effect of race on a applicant’s chance of admission,” it said.
Yale strongly rejected the report’s conclusions, saying it had been made before the university could request any information from the Justice Department.
“Had the Department fully received this information and weighed in, it would have concluded that Yale’s practices absolutely complied with decades of Supreme Court precedent,” Yale said in a statement.
The university said it considered many factors during the admissions process and said it would not change its process “on the basis of such a deserved, hasty accusation.”
Last year, Harvard University was cleared of discrimination against Asian-American applicants by a federal judge following a lawsuit, although the ruling is now being appealed.