SAN DIEGO, CA – February 3, 2021- Californians for Equal Rights (CFER) is disheartened that earlier today the Federal Justice Department (DOJ) dropped its lawsuit against Yale University regarding its alleged racial discrimination in admissions. This hasty decision with no legitimate reason given will cause a systematic roll back of civil rights protections at the federal level and a cascade effect of encouraging race preferences in college admissions.
As a result of a two-year investigation into a 2016 civil rights complaint filed by the Asian American Coalition for Education, the Yale lawsuit was filed by the DOJ under the previous administration and disclosed unequivocal evidence of Yale’s racial discrimination against Asian-American and white applicants. While receiving $600 million in federal funding annually, Yale has used racial balancing, de facto quotas, stereotypes and higher standards to discriminate against applicants from the two “overrepresented” groups. Specifically, race was used in an outcome-determinative manner to the extent that the admissions rate of the two groups were only one-eighth and one-fourth of the rate of black and Latino students, ceteris paribus.
In today’s dismissal of the timely lawsuit, DOJ did not provide any reason for its hasty decision, nor did it dispute findings of discrimination in the legal challenge. In other words, DOJ simply recalled a rightfully filed case to accommodate its ideological agenda of equal outcomes and racial preferences. This is a dangerous move that will embolden various prestigious colleges and universities to violate Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and engage in illegal, immoral and counterproductive racial balancing. Moreover, this change from supporting equal treatment of all students regardless of race or ethnicity to promoting race-based considerations will exacerbate the endemic attack on the merit-based principle, which is supported by over 70% of Americans.
Dr. Gail Heriot, Vice President of CFER commented: “There was a time DOJ stood up for equal treatment under the law. Alas, that time has passed.”
“Instead of embracing our constitutional principle of equal protection of the laws and the non-discrimination principle, DOJ is stooping down to entertain racial identity politics. CFER condemns its politicized decision to drop the Yale lawsuit. We will continue to safeguard the principles of equal treatment and merit, against DOJ’s disregard of public disdain for racial preferences,” said Frank Xu, President of CFER.
Contact:
Wenyuan Wu
wenyuan.wu@cferfoundation.org
(786) 393-8028About Californians for Equal Rights (CFER): CFER is a non-political and non-profit organization established following the defeat of Proposition 16 in 2020, with a mission to defend and raise public awareness on the cause of equal rights through public education, civic engagement and community outreach. In 1996, California became the first U.S. state to amend its constitution by passing Proposition 209 to ban racial discrimination and preferences. Prop 209 requires that “the state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” CFER is dedicated to educating the public on this important constitutional principle of equal treatment. www.Cferfoundation.org.
Californians for Equal Rights Expresses Disappointment About DOJ’s Reversal of the Yale Lawsuit
