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Report: Justice Department Accuses Harvard of Failing to Cooperate in Affirmative Action Probe
OP 01/18/2018

The Justice Department has accused Harvard University of failing to cooperate with its probe into discriminatory affirmative action practices, according to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

The Justice Department’s Civil Right’s division is investigating Harvard University under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin for institutions that receive federal funding. A document in the probe obtained by the Wall Street Journal claims that Harvard failed to comply with a November 2 deadline to provide information regarding their admissions practices.

According to the report, the document confirms the existence of the rumored investigation into affirmative action practices at universities around the country. Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a statement: “The Department of Justice takes seriously any potential violation of an individual’s civil and constitutional rights.”

This year, the Justice Department posted an internal job listing for an attorney who would work on investigating affirmative action policies, namely racial biases in college admissions. The investigation stems from a 2015 complaint from Asian-American activist groups which claimed that Harvard discriminates against Asian-American applicants.

“Many Asian-American students who have almost perfect SAT scores, top 1 percent GPAs, plus significant awards or leadership positions in various extracurricular activities have been rejected by Harvard University and other Ivy League Colleges while similarly situated applicants of other races have been admitted,” the complaint read.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, a successful investigation could result in Harvard being forced to change their admissions policies. As for now, Harvard officials claim that the release of admissions information will interfere with the privacy rights of students. The Justice Department claims that Harvard’s privacy concerns are an “unacceptable” excuse for delaying the investigation.

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