HARTFORD, Conn. _ Federal investigators have concluded that Yale University discriminates against Asian American and white applicants after a two-year investigation into the school's affirmative action policies as part of its undergraduate admissions process.
The findings are part of several attempts by the Trump administration to beat back affirmative action policies and could have far-reaching implications for diversity efforts at higher education institutions nationwide at the same time issues of equity and social justice have taken center stage in public and political life this summer.
At Yale, investigators found race is "the determinative factor" in hundreds of admissions decisions each year and leaves Asian and white applicants with only a fraction of the likelihood of admission as Black applicants with "comparable academic credentials," the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday afternoon.
"There is no such thing as a nice form of race discrimination," said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the department's Civil Rights Division. "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."
The university said it "categorically denies" the DOJ's finding and would not change its admissions practices.
"We are proud of Yale's admissions practices, and we will not change them on the basis of such a meritless, hasty accusation," Yale spokeswoman Karen Peart said in a statement.
The investigation into Yale began in April 2018 after the Justice Department was asked to review complaints that Yale, Harvard and other top universities gave too much consideration to race in their extremely competitive admissions process in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The investigations considered whether Yale and Harvard, specifically, turned away qualified Asian American applicants to boost the diversity of the student body.
At the time, they were widely considered an aggressive and unusual challenge to affirmative action from the DOJ, which also filed briefs in support of a lawsuit making the same allegations brought against Harvard. A judge ruled in Harvard's favor late last fall, but the ruling was appealed and is still pending.
As a recipient of federal education funds, Yale must comply with the landmark Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin. The U.S. Supreme Court has permitted race to be considered as a limited factor in admissions, spawning what became known as affirmative action policies designed to increase access to higher education to students of color.
But federal investigators concluded Yale's use of race "is anything but limited," they said Thursday.
Their analysis found that for the majority of applicants, Asian American and white prospective students were only 10% to 25% as likely to be admitted as Black students with comparable grades, investigators said.
"Yale rejects scores of Asian American and white applicants each year based on their race, whom it otherwise would admit ... the Department of Justice found Yale's use of race is anything but limited," the DOJ said in a statement. "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."
Yale officials adamantly disagreed with the Justice Department's findings Thursday afternoon. University President Peter Salovey has said the university considers "the whole person" when evaluating applicants, not just test scores, grades or race.
Peart said the university has cooperated with the investigation but argued that there is still more data the university is providing to investigators that should have been considered before the DOJ reached any conclusions.
"We are dismayed that the DOJ has made its determination before allowing Yale to provide all the information the Department has requested thus far," Peart said. "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 Justice Department has demanded Yale not consider race or national origin in its upcoming undergraduate admission cycle. If the school does intend to consider either during the process, the DOJ has required Yale first submit a plan "demonstrating its proposal is narrowly tailored as required by law, including by identifying a date for the end of race discrimination."
It was not immediately clear Thursday what next steps the university might take.
