DOJ Investigating Harvard Over Affirmative-Action Policies

The Justice Department is investigating Harvard University’s admissions practices based on a federal civil complaint alleging that the Ivy League discriminates against Asian Americans, The Wall Street Journal reports. The department has also accused the school of failing to cooperate with the probe, which aims to determine whether Harvard is discriminating by limiting the number of Asian-American students admitted each year. The school was to provide documents to the Justice Department about its admissions practices but failed to comply with a Nov. 2 deadline. According to the Journal, the department threatened Harvard with a lawsuit if it does not hand them over by Dec. 1. The move follows a filing by Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit headed by lawyer Edward Blum, who spearheaded a white applicant’s case against the University of Texas at Austin’s race-based admissions policies.