DOJ Drops Discrimination Case Against Yale University

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday requested the dismissal of its Trump-era case against Yale University that accused the school of admissions discrimination against white and Asian Americans.

Prosecutors submitted a notice to drop the case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, saying the government’s dismissal was “voluntary.”

The lawsuit, which was filed in October after a two-year investigation, argued that the Ivy League university had violated federal civil rights law for “at least 50 years” by using admissions practices that favored Black and Hispanic students.

The DOJ had asserted that Asian Americans and white students were one-eighth and one-fourth as likely to be accepted, respectively, when compared to Black applicants.

The legal battle represented one of the Trump administration’s moves to challenge affirmative action programs aimed at increasing diversity on campus, which some conservatives consider unfair and illegal.

Yale, which staunchly defended its admission practices, praised the DOJ’s decision to drop the case in a statement, saying it was “gratified” by the decision.

{snip}