US drops lawsuit accusing Yale of discrimination against Asian and white applicants
- The Department of Justice voluntarily dismissed its case, which was part of a Trump administration push against affirmative action in university admissions
- The lawsuit had been filed in October after the Justice Department accused Yale of imposing ‘undue and unlawful penalties’ on its white and Asian applicants
The US Justice Department dismissed on Wednesday its own lawsuit against Yale University for allegedly discriminating against Asian and white applicants in its undergraduate admissions process.
In a new filing to the federal district court of Connecticut, the Justice Department’s lawyers said they were issuing a “voluntary dismissal” of the case – the latest move by the Joe Biden administration to overturn contentious Trump-era positions, including this one opposing colleges’ consideration of race when they admit students.
A Trump-era Justice Department investigation had found that Asian-American and white applicants to Yale have a smaller “likelihood of admission as African American applicants with comparable academic credentials”.
Trump’s team had vigorously opposed affirmative action admissions policies, which are meant to correct for years of discrimination against ethnic minority groups by many elite US universities.