Information Regarding Department of Justice Investigations

No. Our approach to this issue is driven by five principles: safeguarding academic freedom; maintaining Yale’s right to decide whom we admit and hire in accordance with the law and our own high standards; continuing our commitment to free expression, including our support of students’ free expression following Yale’s policies and guidelines; advancing Yale’s core mission; and prioritizing our responsibility to all our students, faculty, staff, patients, and the university as a whole.  

When the DOJ issues findings of an investigation, federal law provides a process for the parties to engage in seeking a voluntary resolution. It is a standard and important practice that lawyers for the involved parties and the government participate in conversation and exchange of information to determine whether they can resolve the matter without further legal action. Yale is currently engaged in this process of talking and listening. This process also offers Yale the opportunity to explain our rigorous admissions processes. 

Each school determines the criteria for admission and makes its own admission decisions in accordance with the law. Yale is committed to this longstanding and foundational practice.

Every university is facing a unique set of circumstances. Every case is different, ranging from processes involving the DOJ and others that involve other aspects of the government, and some universities have received findings from the DOJ while others have not. At Yale, the DOJ has launched investigations into admissions processes at three schools: Yale College, Yale School of Medicine, and Yale Law School.  

University leaders are focused on stewarding Yale’s mission—and leading its community—by upholding the five principles President McInnis expressed in her July message: safeguarding academic freedom; maintaining Yale’s right to decide whom we admit and hire in accordance with the law and our own high standards; continuing our commitment to free expression, including our support of students’ free expression following Yale’s policies and guidelines; advancing Yale’s core mission; and prioritizing our responsibility to all our students, faculty, staff, patients, and the university as a whole.

This process can take several weeks to over a year. We continue to proceed according to our principles: safeguarding academic freedom; maintaining Yale’s right to decide whom we admit and hire in accordance with the law and our own high standards; continuing our commitment to free expression, including our support of students’ free expression following Yale’s policies and guidelines; advancing Yale’s core mission; and prioritizing our responsibility to all our students, faculty, staff, patients, and the university as a whole. Our approach remains grounded in facts and law.

University leaders are not able to discuss specific information about ongoing legal matters; doing so could violate legal protections and undermine the integrity of the legal process. The DOJ’s investigations involve three of Yale’s schools, and the university takes seriously its responsibility to treat all individuals and units involved in sensitive university matters with fairness and discretion. Publicly discussing specific unresolved allegations or related matters could be deeply unfair to those involved and risk conveying information out of context. University leaders will share news or information when they can do so responsibly.

Yes, the president and other university leaders have received many thoughtful messages from members of the university community. University leaders share community members’ devotion to Yale’s mission and are taking into account the range of perspectives on this issue.

No, the Department of Education’s letter and questions are unrelated to the DOJ’s investigations into the admissions practices of YSM, YC, and YLS. The DoEd’s letter and questions were sent to all U.S. universities. President McInnis informed the campus community about the letter and questions after Yale received them and asked for input.

Yale is participating in the process laid out in federal law when the government makes findings of noncompliance: the attempt at voluntary resolution. The Department of Justice’s letter says it seeks a voluntary resolution related to its findings. The government has not cut off Yale’s funding or imposed any other penalty, the kinds of actions on which lawsuits have been based. Talking with the DOJ does not waive any rights Yale has to challenge any future actions in court and in fact strengthens Yale’s legal rights. 

The law changed in 2023. The U.S. Supreme Court required colleges and universities across the country, including Yale, to adhere to new legal standards in admissions in its 2023 decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling effectively ended race-based affirmative action in higher education nationwide.

As President McInnis noted in her August 21 message, Yale has continued to provide information to the DOJ regarding our admissions processes as required by law. Yale has demonstrated its dedication to both adhering to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the principles the president articulated in July. Although the current period of uncertainty about the investigations may well continue, and the university does not know how long it will last, what is certain is that Yale is dedicated to following the law and adhering to its guiding principles.