Yale University is under a joint investigation by the Education Department and the Justice Department for allegedly discriminating against Asian Americans in the admissions process.
Yale agreed to cooperate with the investigation but denied the allegations, The Washington Post reports.
A letter from the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to the Asian Americans Coalition for Education said the allegations included “information related to a particular Asian-American applicant’s experience.”
“The Department of Justice takes extremely seriously any potential violation of an individual’s constitutional rights,” department spokeswoman Kelly Laco said.
In a letter to the community Wednesday, Yale president Peter Salovey denied that Yale discriminates against “Asian Americans or any other racial or ethnic group.”
“I write now to state unequivocally that Yale does not discriminate in admissions against Asian Americans or any other racial or ethnic group, to share information about our undergraduate admissions practices, and to affirm our unwavering commitment to diversity as a pillar of this university,” Salovey wrote.
“The creation of a diverse academic community has not come at the expense of applicants of any racial or ethnic background,” he stated. “For example, over the past fifteen years, the number of Asian Americans has grown from less than 14 percent of the incoming first-year class to 21.7 percent in the Class of 2022.”
Recently, the Justice Department filed court documents siding with Asian-American students who claim Harvard University is discriminating against them for their race in the admissions process. Harvard also denied the allegations.