Ivy League institution rejects charge as ‘baseless’; asserts would not change admissions policy.
Ivy League Yale university has rejected as “baseless” a Justice Department report that it discriminates against Asian American and white applicants based on race and national origin in undergraduate admissions.
“The department’s allegation is baseless,” Yale president Peter Salovey wrote in a letter addressed to the Yale Community asserting that “Yale College will not change its admissions processes.”
Salovey statement came in response to a letter from the Justice Department informing it of its findings of a two-year investigation on a complaint by Asian American groups concerning Yale’s conduct.
“There is no such thing as a nice form of race discrimination,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division, in a Justice Department release.
“Unlawfully dividing Americans into racial and ethnic blocs fosters stereotypes, bitterness, and division,” he said.
“It is past time for American institutions to recognize that all people should be treated with decency and respect and without unlawful regard to the color of their skin.”
The Justice Department said it found “Yale discriminates based on race and national origin in its undergraduate admissions process, and that race is the determinative factor in hundreds of admissions decisions each year.”
“For the great majority of applicants, Asian Americans and whites have only one-tenth to one-fourth of the likelihood of admission as African American applicants with comparable academic credentials,” it noted.
“Yale rejects scores of Asian American and white applicants each year based on their race, whom it otherwise would admit,” the report alleged
“Although the Supreme Court has held that colleges receiving federal funds may consider applicants’ race in certain limited circumstances as one of a number of factors, the Department of Justice found Yale’s use of race is anything but limited,” it said.
“Yale uses race at multiple steps of its admissions process resulting in a multiplied effect of race on an applicant’s likelihood of admission, and Yale racially balances its classes,” the report alleged.
As a condition of receiving millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, Yale expressly agrees to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Justice Department said.
It’s “a cornerstone civil-rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.”
The department demanded that Yale agree not to use race or national origin in its upcoming 2020-2021 undergraduate admissions cycle.
Alternatively it asked Yale to submit a “plan demonstrating its proposal is narrowly tailored as required by law, including by identifying a date for the end of race discrimination.”
However, Salovey asserted that “Yale College will not change its admissions processes in response to today’s letter because the DOJ is seeking to impose a standard that is inconsistent with existing law.”
“We will continue to look at the whole person when selecting whom to admit among the many thousands of highly qualified applicants” their accomplishments and what they “hope to contribute to Yale and the world.”
“We will continue to create a student body that is rich in a diverse range of ideas, expertise, and experiences,” Salovey wrote. “Such a student body greatly enhances students’ academic experiences and maximizes their future success.”
“By bringing people of different backgrounds, talents, and perspectives together, we best prepare our students for a complex and dynamic world.”
“Yale’s admissions practices help us realize our mission to improve the world today and for future generations,” Salovey wrote.
“At this unique moment in our history, when so much attention properly is being paid to issues of race, Yale will not waver in its commitment to educating a student body whose diversity is a mark of its excellence,” he asserted.
1 Comment
Very, very disappointed in the stance of the Justice Department and Asian American groups. As an African American whose niece graduated Harvard Law as well as my husband who attended Yale, I will do all that I can do to insure that African Americans and Hispanics are represented at institutions such as Yale. I live in a nearby suburb but own two properties in New Haven. As usual, African Americans support all ethnicities but no one supports us. They should be ashamed. I guess four hundred years of slavery, and oppression towards African Americans have no real significance!