Ivy League institution, Harvard, contemplates laying out around half a billion dollars to settle Trump-related disagreement.
The Trump administration has launched investigations into several universities, including Duke and Harvard, focusing on allegations of racial bias in admissions, hiring, and student organization practices.
Duke University Investigations
The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights probe into Duke University and its law journal. The investigation examines whether the Duke Law Journal favours students with leadership roles in affinity groups or those emphasizing their "membership in an underrepresented group" to promote diversity. Separately, the Education Department and the Department of Health and Human Services are reviewing allegations of racial discrimination at Duke’s medical school and Duke Health regarding hiring, admissions, financial aid, and recruitment practices.
Harvard and Other Universities
The Department of Justice, under the Trump administration, has sent detailed and broad document requests to institutions like the University of Virginia (UVA) and Harvard. The demands include extensive demographic and admissions data disaggregated by race and ethnicity, as well as documents on scholarships, financial aid programs, and diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) programming. These requests came with very short deadlines and were regarded as unusually sweeping in scope. Critics interpret these actions as part of a broader pattern of the administration aggressively scrutinizing race-conscious admissions policies following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard.
These investigations are part of a wider effort from the Trump-era federal government to challenge affirmative action and race-conscious policies at federally funded institutions, emphasizing potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination by recipients of federal funds.
Key Details
- The government will probe whether the Duke Law Journal's selection of its editors gives preferences to candidates from minority communities.
- The government is probing whether Harvard and the Harvard Law Review violated civil rights laws by fast-tracking an article written by a member of a racial minority.
- Harvard University is willing to spend up to $500 million to end its dispute with the Trump administration, more than twice the amount agreed by Columbia University.
- Harvard is legally challenging the government to have its frozen federal funding restored.
- The Trump administration had planned to block $510 million in grants for Brown University.
- Trump has claimed, without evidence, that groups like white people and men face discrimination due to DEI.
- The letter urges Duke to review its policies and create a panel to enable a quick resolution of the alleged civil rights violations.
- Duke University had no immediate comment regarding the allegations and the requested review.
- Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on grounds of race in education programs receiving federal funding.
- Brown University has secured a $500 million loan due to federal cuts to research and financial aid in recent months.
Rights advocates have raised concerns over the Trump administration's attempted crackdown against universities, citing free speech and academic freedom. Rights groups dismiss Trump's claim that DEI addresses historic inequities against marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities. Negotiations for the Harvard deal are ongoing, but Harvard opposes the idea of an outside monitor overseeing the deal.
- The Duke Law Journal is under investigation for potential favoritism in editor selection towards minority candidates, which questions the university's commitment to promoting diversity.
- The Department of Justice is investigating Harvard University, specifically the Harvard Law Review, on allegations of civil rights violations for fast-tracking an article from a racial minority member.
- In response to these investigations, Harvard is prepared to spend up to $500 million to resolve the dispute with the Trump administration and restore its frozen federal funding.
- Conversely, the Trump administration has planned to block $510 million in grants for Brown University, a move criticized as a crackdown on universities' affirmative action and race-conscious policies.
