The DOJ did not explain why it was dropping the case in its action before a federal court in Connecticut.
The suit was originally opened in October, when the department, led by then attorney general William Barr, claimed: “Yale rejects many Asian-American and white candidates each year based on their race.”
The case against Yale came in the wake of a similar case against Harvard University, where an anti-affirmative action group sued the university on the grounds that its admission practices discriminated against Asian American students. The lower courts have determined that Harvard does not discriminate in its admission decisions.
The Trump administration brought the Yale lawsuit as part of its pressure against universities that take into account the race in admissions decisions.
This story is emerging and will be updated.