The Trump administration launched a formal investigation into Duke University and its Law Journal this week, alleging discrimination under DEI-based selection policies that may violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Education and Health officials called for immediate policy reforms and establishment of a merit‑based oversight committee to preserve academic integrity and federal funding.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a civil rights investigation on July 28, targeting Duke University’s Law Journal over claims it awarded extra points to applicants for essays addressing race or holding DEI leadership positions. These practices are alleged to have conferred racial preference, potentially in direct conflict with anti‑discrimination law.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. jointly demanded Duke create a Merit and Civil Rights Committee to overhaul selection protocols. The letter ordered reviews of hiring, scholarship, admissions, and editorial decisions at Duke Health and the law school.
McMahon stated, “If Duke illegally gives preferential treatment to law journal or medical school applicants based on those students’ immutable characteristics, that is an affront not only to civil rights law, but to the meritocratic character of academic excellence.
“Blatantly discriminatory practices that are illegal under the Constitution, anti-discrimination law and Supreme Court precedent have become all too common in our education institutions. The Trump administration will not allow them to continue.”
This action falls in line with broader Trump administration efforts to dismantle DEI structures across academia. Similar inquiries have been initiated against schools like Harvard and Columbia, accused of race‑based admissions, hiring, and scholarship decisions. Critics warn that such federal overreach poses a severe threat to academic freedom.
Needing to ensure policy consistency, the Education Department is scrutinizing whether Duke’s DEI measures amount to unlawful discrimination that disadvantages applicants on the basis of immutable traits.
Duke has yet to issue a response. Observers note that Duke later formed an “Inclusive Excellence Working Group,” but the probe signals mounting pressure for drastic structural change.
