Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday opened an investigation into Arizona State University over allegations its diversity, equity and inclusion work violated civil rights law.
- The federal agency said it will examine Arizona State's policies on admissions, recruitment, scholarships, tutoring and educational support to see if the public university "subjects its students to illegal discrimination" through DEI.
- If DOJ finds Arizona State to be in violation of Title VI — the law banning federally funded institutions from discriminating based on race, color or national origin — the university could face threats to its funding, as well as federal demands that the Trump administration deems necessary to bring it back into compliance.
Dive Insight:
The investigation into Arizona State is part of a broader federal effort to keep "universities free of unlawful discrimination — especially when they try to hide illegal conduct to avoid oversight and compliance,” said Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the DOJ's civil rights division, in a Wednesday statement.
DOJ attributed the investigation to "recent viral videos indicating ASU denied equal treatment to students based on race, color, or national origin." It said the videos appear to show the university attempting "to hide its discriminatory practices from federal scrutiny."
But the agency did not share the videos or describe their contents further.
Accuracy in Media, a conservative advocacy group, has targeted Arizona State's diversity efforts in recent months via a handful of secretly recorded and heavily edited videos of university employees discussing such work.
Conservative media outlets have used recordings like these to single out colleges. Like Arizona State’s case, the videos typically appear to show college officials talking about how to avoid DEI restrictions or bans.
The Arizona Board of Regents removed references to diversity and affirmative action from its policies last June. But despite efforts by Republican state lawmakers, Arizona has not enacted a DEI ban.
Other recent videos from Accuracy in Media take aim at the University of Kansas, Ohio State University, and the University of Texas at Austin, all of which are located in conservative-stronghold states that have enacted some form of DEI ban.
