The Justice Department withdrew a lawsuit against Yale on Wednesday that accused the university of discriminating against Asian-American and white candidates for admission, another reversal by the new administration of a Trump-era policy.
The Trump administration has made admissions to race-based colleges a target, and today’s action suggests that the Biden government may be prepared to withdraw from that policy.
Proponents of the Trump administration process say that Asian Americans and whites are being considered higher standards for admission to several elite colleges. In 2019, a federal judge rejected claims that Harvard had intentionally discriminated against Asian-American candidates, but plaintiffs must file a petition with the Supreme Court.
“Yale is grateful that the U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its lawsuit against Yale College admission practices,” said Karen N. Peart, a spokeswoman, in a statement. “Our admission process has enabled Yale College to bring together an incomparable student body, distinguished by its academic excellence and diversity.”
The “voluntary dismissal notice” of the Yale lawsuit, filed at the Federal District Court in Connecticut on Wednesday, gives no reason for the Justice Department’s decision. He noted that Yale had not responded to the action.
In a statement, the Justice Department said it rejected the lawsuit “in light of all the facts, circumstances and legal developments available”, including a federal appeals court ruling upholding Harvard’s admission practices.
But the department said it would continue an “underlying investigation” to ensure compliance with the federal funding provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Ms. Peart said that Yale continued to cooperate with this review.
The Justice Department’s decision does not mean that the lawsuit against Yale is dead. Students for Fair Admission, the organization that sued Harvard, plans to take him and refile him on his behalf.
“It is important that this process continues to be vigorously litigated in the courts over the next few months and years, if necessary,” said Edward Blum, the organization’s president. “Using race and ethnicity in college admission decisions is unfair, unconstitutional and is eroding the social fabric that holds our nation together.”
The suit, opened last October, claimed that Yale discriminated against both Asian-American and white candidates. The government said race was the “determining factor” in hundreds of admission decisions each year, and that “for the vast majority of candidates”, Asian Americans and whites have only an eighth to a quarter of the likelihood of admission as black candidates with comparable academic credentials.
Violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the government said, could cost Yale millions of dollars in taxpayer money. The complaint said Yale receives more than $ 600 million annually in federal funds.
Yale said that his admission process did not discriminate and followed Supreme Court precedent. During the Trump administration, the Justice Department also supported the lawsuit against Harvard. But given the Biden government’s withdrawal from the Yale case, it seems likely that it will also withdraw its support for the Harvard case.