The Education and Justice departments on Wednesday disclosed that they are investigating whether Yale University’s admissions practices illegally discriminate against Asian-American applicants, marking the Trump administration’s second probe into an Ivy League school’s student selection process.
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights revealed that the joint investigation began in April, according to a letter it sent to the Asian American Coalition for Education, a nonprofit group that has argued universities are capping the number of Asian-Americans they admit each year. In 2016, the group filed a complaint with the Justice and Education departments, leading to the investigation.
Yale President Peter Salovey confirmed the probe’s existence in a letter Wednesday to students and faculty. Mr. Salovey said the school will “cooperate fully” with the federal government but will vigorously defend “our ability to create a diverse and excellent academic community.”
In the 2016 complaint, the AACE accused Yale, Brown University and Dartmouth College of treating Asian-Americans differently during the admissions process because of their race.
The Education Department said in the letter it treated the allegations as three separate complaints. It said the Yale probe was opened because the AACE provided information related to a particular Asian-American student’s application experience. But it said it was dismissing the complaints against Brown and Dartmouth because of insufficient evidence.
“As one of the smallest racial groups who has very little political power, Asian American communities are truly grateful to the Trump Administration for fighting for the constitutional rights of our children,” said Yukong Zhao, president of AACE
Mr. Salovey said Yale’s student body has grown more diverse because of its admissions policies. He noted an increase in the number of low-income and first-generation college students. In addition, over the past 15 years, Asian-American students increased from less than 14 percent of the incoming freshman class to 21.7 percent in the class of 2022.
“I write now to state unequivocally that Yale does not discriminate in admissions against Asian Americans or any other racial or ethnic group … and to affirm our unwavering commitment to diversity as a pillar of this community,” Mr. Salovey wrote in his letter.
The Yale probe is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to end affirmative action admissions policies at elite universities.
Last month, the Justice Department filed court documents supporting an Asian-American student group that says Harvard University’s admissions process deliberately omits qualified Asian-American applicants.
The Justice Department previously had announced a civil rights investigation into Harvard’s admissions policies, but also requested that a federal judge listen to the student group’s complaints.
Harvard is fighting the lawsuit, saying it paints “a dangerously inaccurate” picture of its admissions process, which the university says is based on a number of factors.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.