Trump administration launches race-based discrimination investigations against Harvard Law Review

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI The Trump administration on Monday declared federal representatives are launching investigations into Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review saying functionaries have received reports of race-based discrimination permeating the operations of the journal Related Articles families demand extradition of Saudi national tied to video evidence FDA scrutiny of Novavax COVID- vaccine sparks uncertainty about other shots Trump lashes out over polls calls for investigations of fake news Things to know about the US coal industry and proposed changes under the Trump administration White House focuses on boundary crackdown as it marks days for Trump s second term The investigations come as Harvard fights a freeze on billion in federal grants the Trump administration imposed after the university refused to comply with demands to limit activism on campus A letter sent to the university earlier this month called for the institution to clarify its campus speech policies that limit the time place and manner of protests and other initiatives It also demanded academic departments at Harvard that fuel antisemitic harassment be reviewed and changed to address bias and improve viewpoint diversity Monday marked the first time that both sides met in court over the funding fight The investigations by the U S Department of Development and the Department of Wellness and Human Services were declared separately on Monday with administration saying they were examining policies and practices involving the journal s membership and article selection that they argue may violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of According to the federal authorities the editor of the Harvard Law Review reportedly wrote that it was concerning that the majority of the people who had needed to reply to an article about police change are white men A separate editor allegedly suggested that a piece should be subject to expedited review because the author was a minority Harvard Law Review s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as if not more major than the merit of the submission mentioned Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor in a comment Title VI s demands are clear recipients of federal financial assistance may not discriminate on the basis of race color or national origin No institution no matter its pedigree prestige or wealth is above the law An email seeking comment was sent Monday to a spokesperson for Harvard Harvard is among multiple universities across the country where pro-Palestinian protests erupted on campus amid the war in Gaza last year Republican leaders have since heavily scrutinized those universities and several Ivy League presidents testified before Congress to discuss antisemitism claims The Cambridge Massachusetts institution was the fifth Ivy League school targeted in a pressure campaign by the administration which also has paused federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania Brown and Princeton universities to force compliance with its agenda