Trump Administration Investigates Yale For Discriminating Against Asian Students

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education has launched an investigation into a complaint that Yale University discriminates against Asian-American students in its admissions process in order to maintain racial quotas.

In a letter, the Department of Education told the Asian-American Coalition for Education that it will investigate the group’s 2016 complaint against Yale. The Department of Justice has joined in the probe, the Daily Caller reported.

In its complaint, the Asian-American Coalition accused Yale University and fellow Ivy League schools Harvard, Brown, and Dartmouth of discriminating against Asians in order to artificially limit Asian representation in its student body.

The implicit goal is to restrict Asian representation while promoting the representation of other minorities, such as African-Americans and Hispanics, according to the Asian coalition. The group argues that Yale and Harvard’s use of affirmative action programs has hurt Asians in the admissions process.

The Asian coalition said Asian students are held to a higher standard because they are evaluated against each other (and not against the entire student applicant pool) in order to fit the 19 to 20 percent limit that Yale artificially places on Asian representation.

Yale President Peter Salovey denied the school discriminates against Asians.

“Yale does not discriminate in admissions against Asian Americans or any other racial or ethnic group,” Salovey told the Daily Caller. “The creation of a diverse academic community has not come at the expense of applicants of any racial or ethnic background.”

Department Of Justice Sides With Asian Students

In August 2018, the Department of Justice sided with a group of Asian-American students who claimed they were discriminated against when they were rejected by Harvard University, CBS News reported.

In court papers, the Department of Justice said the Asian students “presented compelling evidence that Harvard’s use of race unlawfully discriminates against Asian-Americans.”

Harvard University has acknowledged that it uses race as a factor in its admissions process for affirmative action purposes but claims it does not discriminate against Asians.

However, the Justice Department said after reviewing all the evidence, Harvard failed to show that “its use of race does not inflict unlawful racial discrimination on Asian-Americans.”

A brief filed by the Department of Justice noted, “Substantial evidence further shows that, with this elusory use of race, Harvard engineers its admissions process to produce an admitted class that replicates its desired racial balance year in, and year out.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a statement in August saying Harvard has a responsibility to be fair in its admissions process because it receives more than $550 million a year in federal funding, as the Inquisitr reported.

“No American should be denied admission to school because of their race,” Sessions said. “As a recipient of taxpayer dollars, Harvard has a responsibility to conduct its admissions policy without racial discrimination by using meaningful admissions criteria that meet lawful requirements.”