The Justice Department has concluded Yale University illegally discriminates against Asian American and white undergraduate applicants, threatening to sue the school if it doesn’t end all of its race-based admissions decisions.

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“There is no such thing as a nice form of race discrimination,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division said. “Unlawfully dividing Americans into racial and ethnic blocs fosters stereotypes, bitterness, and division. It is past time for American institutions to recognize that all people should be treated with decency and respect and without unlawful regard to the color of their skin. In 1890, Frederick Douglass explained that the ‘business of government is to hold its broad shield over all and to see that every American citizen is alike and equally protected in his civil and personal rights.’ The Department of Justice agrees and will continue to fight for the civil rights of all people throughout our nation.”

A DOJ press release described the department’s two-year investigation, which was sparked by a complaint by Asian American groups concerning Yale’s policies and which led the Justice Department to assess that alleged discrimination against Asian American and white applicants put the school in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. . . .

“As a condition of receiving millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, Yale expressly agrees to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a cornerstone civil-rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance,” the Justice Department said, adding that it “found Yale discriminates based on race and national origin in its undergraduate admissions process, and that race is the determinative factor in hundreds of admissions decisions each year. For the great majority of applicants, Asian Americans and whites have only one-tenth to one-fourth of the likelihood of admission as African American applicants with comparable academic credentials. Yale rejects scores of Asian American and white applicants each year based on their race, whom it otherwise would admit.”

The Justice Department noted that the Supreme Court “has held that colleges receiving federal funds may consider applicants’ race in certain limited circumstances as one of a number of factors” but alleged that “Yale’s use of race is anything but limited … Yale uses race at multiple steps of its admissions process resulting in a multiplied effect of race on an applicant’s likelihood of admission, and Yale racially balances its classes” improperly. . . .

“Yale has cooperated fully with the DOJ’s investigation of Yale’s admissions practices. We have produced a substantial amount of information and data, and we are continuing to do so,” Peart told the Washington Examiner. “Given our commitment to complying with federal law, we are dismayed that the DOJ has made its determination before allowing Yale to provide all the information the Department has requested thus far. Had the Department fully received and fairly weighed this information, it would have concluded that Yale’s practices absolutely comply with decades of Supreme Court precedent.”

The Yale official continued: “At Yale, we look at the whole person when selecting whom to admit among the many thousands of highly qualified applicants. We take into consideration a multitude of factors, including their academic achievement, interests, demonstrated leadership, background, success in taking maximum advantage of their secondary school and community resources, and the likelihood that they will contribute to the Yale community and the world. We are proud of Yale’s admissions practices, and we will not change them on the basis of such a meritless, hasty accusation.”

In September 2018, when the Justice Department initiated its inquiry, Yale President Peter Salovey wrote an open letter to the Yale community “to state unequivocally that Yale does not discriminate in admissions against Asian Americans or any other racial or ethnic group,” and he promised to defend Yale’s admissions process.

“We would like to secure Yale’s compliance with Title VI by voluntary means. To that end, Yale must agree not to use race or national origin in its upcoming 2020-2021 undergraduate admissions cycle, and, if Yale proposes to consider race or national origin in future admissions cycles, it must first submit to the Department of Justice a plan demonstrating that its proposal is narrowly tailored as required by law. Any such proposal should include an end date to Yale’s use of race,” Dreiband wrote to Yale on Thursday. “Please be advised that if Yale does not agree to this remedial measure by August 27, 2020, we may determine that “compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means.” If we make that determination, the Department will be prepared to file a lawsuit to enforce Yale’s Title VI obligations.” . . .

Harvard University is facing similar scrutiny from the Justice Department and other groups. Students for Fair Admissions, a group representing Asian American students who have been rejected by Harvard, filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging admissions bias that favored black and Hispanic students while disfavoring Asian American ones. A federal judge ruled in the school’s favor in October, but the group appealed in February, with arguments to be held in September. That case could end up at the Supreme Court.

(Excerpt from The Washington Examiner. Article by Jerry Dunleavy. Photo from (PixaBay.)

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