Following up on my previous post, Duke Law Journal Told Minority Applicants They’d Get Extra Points For Writing About Their Race:  Washington Free Beacon (Aaron Sibarium), Trump Administration Launches Probe of Duke Law Journal, Warns Medical School Could Be Next:

The Department of Education on Monday launched an investigation into Duke University and its flagship law review, citing a Washington Free Beacon report on the journal’s use of racial preferences to select editors.

The department will investigate the Duke Law Journal’s 2024 decision to award extra points to applicants who mentioned race and gender in their personal statements. Candidates could earn up to 10 points for discussing their “membership in an underrepresented group,” according to the grading rubric for the essays, and an additional 3-5 points for holding “a leadership position in an affinity group.”

Such criteria likely violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the department said in a press release [HHS Demands that Duke University Address Systemic Allegations of Race Discrimination]. The rubric was included in a packet sent to the law school’s affinity groups, which were told not to share the materials with other students. Duke has not commented publicly on whether the criteria were ever shared with the whole law school.

The department also sent a separate letter to the university expressing concern about the use of racial preferences at Duke Medical School, whose promotion guidelines for faculty reward doctors for recruiting and mentoring “BIPOC” trainees. The letter, sent jointly with the Department of Health and Human Services, asks Duke to create a “Merit and Civil Rights Committee” that will work with the government to resolve alleged civil rights violations.

If no resolution is reached after six months, the letter warns, “the federal government will commence enforcement proceedings as appropriate.” A separate HHS press release says that the agency’s office of civil rights has already begun an investigation into Duke Health.

• Bloomberg, Duke University Probed by Education Department Over Civil Rights Violations
• Duke Chronicle, Federal Agencies Investigate Duke Over Alleged Racial Discrimination
• National Review, Trump Administration Investigating Duke University, Duke Law Journal Over Alleged Racial Discrimination
• New York Post, Trump Admin Launches Duke University Probe After Allegation School’s Law Journal Rewarded Applicants for Discussing Race
• Newsweek, Trump Admin Targets Duke University Over Alleged Race-Based Selection
• Reuters, US Government Probes Duke University in Latest Federal Funding Threat

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