A two-year federal investigation into Yale’s undergraduate admissions process concluded that the university has practiced “long-standing and ongoing” racial discrimination against white and Asian American applicants.
A university spokesperson dismissed the findings as “a meritless, hasty accusation.”
The federal Department of Justice announced that conclusion Thursday afternoon in an email press release.
“The Department of Justice today notified Yale University of its findings that Yale illegally discriminates against Asian American and white applicants in its undergraduate admissions process in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” the press release begins.
“The findings are the result of a two-year investigation in response to a complaint by Asian American groups concerning Yale’s conduct.”
Click here to read the full press release, and here to read the letter sent by the federal government to Yale Thursday.
The feds argued that Asian American and white applicants have “only one-tenth to one-fourth the likelihood of admission as African American applicants with comparable academic credentials” because of Yale’s factoring in of race in its consideration of undergraduate applications.
Yale spokesperson Karen Peart replied that the federal government did not give Yale enough time to provide all of the information it had requested for the investigation. And she wrote that Yale “categorically denies this allegation” and will continue to assess undergraduate applicants by a “multitude of factors,” including “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.” See her full response below.
The Yale investigation, which began in 2018 along with a similar investigation into Harvard’s admission practices, marked the Trump Administration’s continuation of a longstanding conservative critique of affirmative action as racially discriminatory in favor of African Americans.
“Although 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,” the federal press release reads, “the Department of Justice found 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.”
The department called on Yale to not use race or national origin in its upcoming 2020 – 2021 undergraduate admissions cycle. If the university does continue to use such factors when evaluating applicants, the press release reads, Yale must “first submit to the Department of Justice a plan demonstrating its proposal is narrowly tailored as required by law, including by identifying a date for the end of race discrimination.”
Yale’s Response
The below statement was provided by Yale spokesperson Karen Peart.
Today, Yale received a letter from the Department of Justice accusing the university of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against Asian American and white applicants in its undergraduate admissions practices. Yale categorically denies this allegation.
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.
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.
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.