US drops Yale University admissions lawsuit

The Biden administration on Wednesday dropped an affirmative action lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against Yale University in which the school was accused of discriminating against Asian-American and white undergraduate applicants.

The Justice Department under former President Donald Trump first opened an investigation into Yale's use of race in undergraduate admissions in 2018. The department sued Yale in October last year, alleging it rejected "scores of Asian American and white applicants each year based on their race".

"The department has dismissed its lawsuit in light of all available facts, circumstances, and legal developments, including the November 2020 decision by the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejecting a challenge to Harvard University's consideration of race in its admissions practices," said a Justice Department spokesperson in a statement.

The Justice Department has also withdrawn its notice letter finding that Yale's practices violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance". But the department's "underlying investigation to ensure Title VI compliance is ongoing, according to the department.

Yale said in a statement that it was "gratified" by the department's decision, adding that the school's admissions process has allowed it to "assemble an unparalleled student body, which is distinguished by its academic excellence and diversity".

The Justice Department's dismissal of the Yale case was applauded by civil rights groups. "This lawsuit was nothing more than a Trump administration attack on affirmative action. The consideration of race in college admissions is crucial to advancing racial equity in our nation's educational institutions," said the American Civil Liberties Union in a statement on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden separately revoked an order signed by Trump barring agencies and federal contractors from engaging in diversity and inclusion training that explored systemic racism and privilege.

In contrast to Biden who has promised to make racial equity a priority for his administration, the Trump administration had tried to discourage affirmative action policies and pushed against universities that consider race in admissions.

The Justice Department under Trump redirected resources toward probing and suing universities over their affirmative-action policies. Before filing the lawsuit against Yale, the Justice Department also had joined a similar lawsuit against Harvard University in February last year and sided with the plaintiff, a group called Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA).

The group sued Harvard in 2014, alleging the school intentionally discriminated against Asian American applicants by holding them to a higher standard in undergraduate admissions.

In November, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of Harvard, holding that the school's "limited use of race in its admissions process in order to achieve diversity is consistent with the requirements of Supreme Court precedent".

As to the groups' accusation that Harvard used quotas for Asian American applicants, the appellate court said that variances in admission rates for Asian American, black and Hispanic applicants disproves such an allegation.

The SFFA also filed a motion in October to intervene in the Yale suit, but the motion was denied. The group's leader, the conservative legal activist Edward Blum, expressed disappointment at the Justice Department's decision to withdraw the Yale case and said in a statement that he planned to file a new lawsuit against Yale in the coming days.