Several Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration for clarity on the question of whether the Department of Justice plans to “launch an attack on racial diversity and inclusion in higher education.”
In a letter dated Aug. 18, the lawmakers ask U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions a series of questions concerning a report in The New York Times that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is “preparing to redirect resources into investigating and/or pursuing legal action against American colleges and universities over admissions policies that seek to provide students with racially diverse and inclusive learning environments.”
The story was based an internal announcement to the civil rights division at DOJ that sought current lawyers interested in working for a new project on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions.”
In the wake of that report, the DOJ released a statement saying the press reports concerning the matter were “inaccurate,” and that the posting actually sought volunteers to investigate “one administrative complaint filed by a coalition of 64 Asian-American associations in May 2015 that the prior Administration left unresolved.”
That was a reference to a complaint the associations filed against Harvard University alleging racial discrimination in its admissions policy.
“This Department of Justice has not received or issued any directive, memorandum, initiative, or policy related to university admissions in general,” the DOJ stated at the time.
Still, those assurances were not enough to allay the fears that ensued in the wake of Times’ report that the Trump administration planned to crack down on race-conscious affirmative action despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that race can be considered in college admissions in a narrow way.
