Trump admin launches probe into Duke University amid report law journal gave applicants extra points for personal statements about their race

The Trump administration announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into Duke University over allegations the school’s law journal discriminated “on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin” when selecting editors for the prestigious publication.

The probe was initiated by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) after the Washington Free Beacon last month reported on a packet the Duke Law Journal allegedly prepared for, and only distributed to, members of the university’s law school affinity groups. 

The probe stems from a report that the Duke Law Journal informed members of affinity groups that would get points for discussing their race in their applications. AP

The packet explained the rubric that would be used to judge 500-word personal statements prospective law journal editors are required to submit and encouraged applicants to “discuss traditional diversity (race, gender, ethnicity etc…)” in their essays. 

Applicants could receive as many as 10 points for writing about how their “membership in an underrepresented group” would “lend itself to …  promoting diverse voices,” the packet stated.

Up to 5 additional points could be earned if applicants held “a leadership position in an affinity group or have created a program to support people with diverse backgrounds.” 

Several sample personal statements included in the packet referenced the race of applicants in the opening sentence. 

“[A]s an Asian-American woman and a daughter of immigrants, I am afforded with different perspectives, experiences, and privileges,” read one sample essay shared with affinity groups. 

The law journal explicitly told the affinity groups not to share the packet with other students, according to the Washington Free Beacon. 

Duke University did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. 

In April, the Trump administration launched a similar investigation into alleged discriminatory practices at Harvard University’s law journal, amid allegations the publication used “race-based criteria” in lieu of “merit-based standards” in its journal membership and article selection process. 

The Trump administration has launched dozens of investigations into universities over allegations of discrimination. REUTERS

“I am proud to partner with [Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]  to ensure that Duke commits to excellence, integrity, and lawfulness in their training of our nation’s future leaders,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. 

“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,” she continued. “Blatantly discriminatory practices that are illegal under the Constitution, antidiscrimination law, and Supreme Court precedent have become all too common in our educational institutions.” 

“The Trump Administration will not allow them to continue.”

Separately, McMahon and Kennedy sent a joint letter to Duke University about concerns the Trump administration has with “race preferences in Duke’s hiring, admissions, and scholarship decisions,” according to the Department of Education.  

The letter demands that university leaders  “review all policies and practices at Duke Health for the illegal use of race preferences, take immediate action to reform all of those that unlawfully take account of race or ethnicity to bestow benefits or advantages, and provide clear and verifiable assurances to the government that Duke’s new policies will be implemented faithfully going forward — including by making all necessary organizational, leadership, and personnel changes to ensure the necessary reforms will be durable.” 

The missive further calls on Duke to establish a “Merit and Civil Rights Committee” that would allow the university and the Trump administration “to move quickly toward a mutual resolution of Duke’s alleged civil rights violations.” 

“We are making it clear that federal funding must support excellence — not race — in medical education, research, and training,” Kennedy said in a statement. 

“Today, Secretary McMahon and I are calling on Duke to address serious allegations of racial discrimination by forming a Merit and Civil Rights Committee to work with the Federal government to uphold civil rights and merit-based standards at Duke Health,” he added. 

It’s unclear what the investigation into Duke Health stems from. 

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro alleged last year that the Duke School of Medicine lowered its admission standards as part of its diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] efforts, a claim the university denied at the time.