A Justice Department investigation has found that Yale University favored black students and illegally discriminated against white and Asian American applicants, in violation of federal civil rights law, officials said.
The findings were detailed on Thursday in a letter to college attorneys, following a two-year investigation, after students complained about the application process at some Ivy League schools.
It marks the latest action by the Trump administration aimed at curbing discrimination in admission of colleges.
The two-year investigation concluded that Yale “rejects scores of Asian American and white applicants each year based on their race, which would otherwise indicate,” the Justice Department said.
A two-year investigation by the Department of Justice found that Yale University (pictured) illegally discriminated against Asian American and white applicants
The investigation stems from a 2016 complaint against Yale (pictured) Brown and Dartmouth after some students complained about the application process at Ivy League schools
The investigation stems from a 2016 complaint against Yale, Brown and Dartmouth.
The Department of Justice had previously submitted court papers sided with Asian American groups that had similar allegations against Harvard University.
“Yale racial discrimination imposes disproportionate and unjustified fines on applicants who are racially disadvantaged, including in particular Asian Americans and White applicants,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband, head of the Civil Rights Department .
Attorneys found that Yale discriminates against applicants for her undergraduate program based on her race and national origin and ‘that race is the determining factor in hundreds of admission decisions each year.’
The study concluded that Asian American and white students ‘have only one-tenth to one-fourth of the chances of admission as African-American applicants with similar academic credentials,’ the Department of Justice said.
“Illegal division of Americans into racial and ethnic blocs promotes stereotypes, bitterness and division,” Dreiband said in a statement.
‘It is past time for American institutions to recognize that all people should be treated with decency and respect and without undue attention to the color of their skin. ‘
The study also found that Yale used race as a factor in multiple stages of the admissions process and that Yale “rationally balances its classes.”
The Supreme Court has judged colleagues and universities can consider race in admissions decisions, but has said this should be done in a closely tailored way to promote diversity and should be limited in time.
Schools also bear the brunt of showing why their consideration of race is appropriate.
In a statement, Yale said it “categorically denies this accusation”, “fully cooperated in the investigation and that he continuously” turned on a substantial amount of information and data “.
“Given our commitment to comply with federal law, we are dismayed that the DOJ has made its provision before Yale can provide any information that the department has requested so far,” the university said in a statement.
‘Had the department fully received this information and weighed it generously, it would have concluded that Yale’s practices absolutely complied with decades of Supreme Court presidency.’
The university said it considers many factors and looks at ‘the whole person in selecting who will be admitted among the many thousands of highly qualified applicants.’
Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband, who is in charge of the department’s civil rights department, said the university has imposed ‘odd and unjustified fines for applicants who abuse race’.
“We are proud of Yale’s admissions practices, and we will not change them based on such a well-deserved, hasty accusation,” the statement said.
In response to the 2018 announcement of the survey, the president of Yale said race is just one of ‘a multitude’ of factors the school considers when weighing applications.
“Yale College has been able to fill its entire in-depth class several times with applicants who reach the 99th percentile in standardized tests and who have perfect average grades for high schools, but we do not base admission on such numbers alone,” wrote President Peter Salovey .
‘Rather, we look at the whole person as we select who to admit among the many thousands of highly qualified applicants.’
In the previous 15 years, he said, the number of Asian American students in Yale’s incoming classes grew from 14 percent to 22 percent.
He added that the school’s approach ‘fully complies with all legal requirements and has been endorsed several times by the Supreme Court. ‘
The Department of Justice said in its findings that Yale ” rationally balances its classes’
The Department of Justice has demanded that Yale stop immediately and agree not to use race as a national origin for upcoming permits.
The government also says that if Yale proposes that it will continue to use race as a national origin as a factor in future admission cycles, the college must first submit a plan to the Justice Department, proving that its proposal is narrowly adjusted as required by law, including by identifying a date for the end of racial discrimination. ‘
The Justice Department has previously also raised similar concerns regarding Harvard University, which accused prosecutors of “participating in racial balance,” siding with Asian American students in a lawsuit that discriminated against the Ivy League school against them.
A federal judge in 2019 removed Harvard from discrimination against Asian American applicants in a ruling that was seen as a major victory for supporters of affirmative action in college licenses in the US
That ruling has been appealed and arguments are scheduled for next month.
In the Harvard case, the Department of Justice had ruled that the university went too far in its use of race, but the judge disagreed.
Although the Supreme Court has ruled that colleges’ use of race in admissions should be ‘narrowly adjusted’ and can only be a ‘plus factor’, rulings for past colleges still provide broad breadth when considering a wide range of factors, including race, because they build their classes.
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