Biden administration drops Yale admissions lawsuit
The U.S. Justice Department has dropped a discrimination lawsuit against Yale University that was brought by the Trump administration.
NBC News reports that a two-sentence filing in U.S. District Court in Connecticut gave notice of the government's voluntary dismissal of the case, which contended that the Ivy League school's admissions policies discriminated against Asian-American and white applicants.
Yale says it is gratified by the decision to drop the lawsuit.
"Our admissions process has allowed Yale College to assemble an unparalleled student body, which is distinguished by its academic excellence and diversity," the university said. "Yale has steadfastly maintained that its process complies fully with Supreme Court precedent, and we are confident that the Justice Department will agree.”
The lawsuit marked an escalation in the Trump Justice Department's attacks on affirmative action programs that many conservatives consider illegal.
[FROM OCTOBER 2020: Justice Department sues Yale over admissions policy]
The Justice Department said in October that a two-year investigation concluded that Yale discriminated against Asian American and white students in admissions. It said those students were only one-tenth to one-fourth as likely to be admitted as African American applicants with comparable academic records.
When the suit was filed, Yale called the government's conclusion hasty and meritless.
