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On Thursday, Oct. 8, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a lawsuit against Yale University alleging its admission policies are racist for seeking to racially “balance” the university’s population. Many colleges and universities create diversity recruitment goals in an effort to bolster equity.
“The [Trump] Administration has fully embraced its racist mantle as the last gasp of this failed presidency,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong in a statement released shortly after the lawsuit was announced.
“The Department of Justice action deviates starkly from decades of well-established legal precedent and threatens to disrupt admissions practices at hundreds of universities nationwide.,” he said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Yale's policy unfairly leaves white and Asian-American applicants at a disadvantage due to their races.
“Illegal race discrimination by colleges and universities must end,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division. “This nation’s highest ideals include the notion that we are all equal under the law.”
Tong is an Asian-American and called the lawsuit "offensive." He said his office is exploring legal avenues to support Yale and its students.
In his statement, Tong said that diversity, equity, and inclusion matter and that the U.S. has failed to create an environment that fully embraces these ideals. The Yale University admission policy should be supported, Tong said, not targeted.
The timing of the lawsuit is suspect, Tong said, being so close to a national election.
“The timing and motivation behind this lawsuit are clear - to foment more hate and division on the eve of an election,” Tong said.
“It is shamefully ironic that this administration purportedly seeks to take up the cause of Asian-American students after spending months actively inciting violence and hate against the Asian-American community.”
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