The Department of Justice accused Yale University of violating federal civil rights law by illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants in its undergraduate …
The Department of Justice accused Yale University of violating federal civil rights law by illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants in its undergraduate admissions process. Those are the findings of a two-year investigation conducted in response to a complaint by a coalition of Asian American groups. The Justice Department notified university officials in a letter on Thursday. „The Department of Justice found Yale discriminates based on race and national origin in its undergraduate admissions process, and that race is the determinative factor in hundreds of admissions decisions each year,“ the department said in a release. It went on to say that „for the great majority of applicants,“ Asian American and white prospective students have one-tenth to one-fourth of the likelihood of admission as African American applicants with comparable academic credentials. In a statement provided to NPR, a Yale spokesperson said that the university „categorically denies this allegation.“ „At Yale, we look at the whole person when selecting whom to admit among the many thousands of highly qualified applicants,“ the statement said. „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.“ The spokesperson also suggested that the Justice Department had not fully taken into account the information and data that university officials were providing.
