DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced Friday that they’d opened investigations into dozens of universities, citing allegations of race-exclusionary practices in graduate programs.
Among the universities in the list of 45 institutions was Emory University in Georgia.
Federal officials said the investigations opened into the various institutions followed a Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter sent by the department that reminded the various schools of their “civil rights obligations to end use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.”
Further, the department said the investigations follow allegations that the 45 institutions had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through their partnership with an organization called The Ph.D. Project.
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The Department of Education said “purports to provide doctoral students with insights into obtaining a Ph.D. and networking opportunities, but limits eligibility based on the race of participants.”
Along with the 45 universities under investigation for involvement with The Ph.D. Project, OCR said they were also investigating seven institutions for allegations of using impermissible race-based scholarships and race-based segregation.
In the announcement, the Department of Education said “institutions’ violation of Title VI can result in loss of federal funds.”
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“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination. The agency has already launched Title VI investigations into institutions where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported and Title IX investigations into entities which allegedly continue to allow sex discrimination; today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment.”
Channel 2 Action News has reached out to Emory University and The Ph.D. Project for comment and are waiting for their responses.
Here’s the list of the universities under investigation, as announced on Friday:
- Arizona State University – Main Campus
- Boise State University
- Cal Poly Humboldt
- California State University – San Bernadino
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Clemson University
- Cornell University
- Duke University
- Emory University
- George Mason University
- Georgetown University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Montana State University-Bozeman
- New York University (NYU)
- Rice University
- Rutgers University
- The Ohio State University – Main Campus
- Towson University
- Tulane University
- University of Arkansas – Fayetteville
- University of California-Berkeley
- University of Chicago
- University of Cincinnati – Main Campus
- University of Colorado – Colorado Springs
- University of Delaware
- University of Kansas
- University of Kentucky
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
- University of Nebraska at Omaha
- University of New Mexico – Main Campus
- University of North Dakota – Main Campus
- University of North Texas – Denton
- University of Notre Dame
- University of NV – Las Vegas
- University of Oregon
- University of Rhode Island
- University of Utah
- University of Washington-Seattle
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- University of Wyoming
- Vanderbilt University
- Washington State University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Yale University
Here’s the list of institutions being investigated for allegations of race-based scholarships and race-based segregation:
- Grand Valley State University
- Ithaca College
- New England College of Optometry
- University of Alabama
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of South Florida
- University of Oklahoma, Tulsa School of Community Medicine
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