The Biden Administration has moved to drop a federal lawsuit pursued by the former Trump Administration against Yale University regarding its alleged discrimination against White and Asian undergraduate applicants.
On Wednesday, the United States Department of Justice filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in the case United States of America v. Yale University.
The legal filing represented an about-face from the actions taken by the feds under former President Donald Trump. For two years, the former Trump Administration investigated Yale for alleged racial discrimination in its undergraduate application process.
That investigation resulted in a federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut in October that alleged that Yale favored Black and Hispanic applicants, to the detriment of White and Asian applicants.
The suit marked a continuation of longstanding conservative legal challenges to affirmative action policies at institutions of higher education. Top university officials, Democratic state lawmakers, Yale students and faculty defended Yale’s application review process as promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the face of systemic educational and economic barriers faced by Black and Hispanic students in this country.
“Yale is gratified that the U.S. Justice Department has dropped its lawsuit challenging Yale College’s admissions practices,” university spokesperson Karen Peart told the Independent by email Wednesday after the feds had dropped the lawsuit. “We are also pleased that the Justice Department has withdrawn its notice of violation of Title VI and its notice of noncompliance. The Justice Department’s decision in August 2020 to issue the notice of violation unexpectedly and precipitously cut off an exchange of information that Yale looks forward to resuming.
“Our admissions process has allowed Yale College to assemble an unparalleled student body, which is distinguished by its academic excellence and diversity. Yale has steadfastly maintained that its process complies fully with Supreme Court precedent, and we are confident that the Justice Department will agree.”
Yale University President Peter Salovey also welcomed the news of the federal government’s change of legal heart.
“As I think of our students, each of whom had a unique journey to Yale, it is clear to me that they are a diverse group of talented individuals who have so much to contribute to our university, to our country, and to the world,” Salovey wrote in a statement, which can be read in full here. “Their stories — and their hopes and dreams — underscore the importance of our unwavering commitment to maintaining an academic environment built on a wide range of strengths and backgrounds.”
It's comforting to know not all discrimination is created equal.