The Department of Justice (DOJ) has formally accused Duke University School of Law of engaging in illegal racial discrimination in its admissions process, marking the latest federal enforcement action against elite higher education institutions. The findings, issued Thursday by the Civil Rights Division, allege that the law school systematically favored Black and Hispanic applicants over white and Asian ones with identical or stronger academic credentials.
Proxies for Race
The DOJ investigation determined that while the Durham, North Carolina, school publicly stated adherence to race-neutral policies following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on affirmative action, it quietly deployed substitute criteria to engineer a desired demographic outcome. Officials cited the evaluation of personal diversity essays and the consideration of first-generation college student status as the primary mechanisms used to sort applicants by race.
“Duke Law School doesn’t get a free pass to discriminate against white and Asian students simply because it thinks it has good intentions. Using ‘diversity’ essay questions to identify preferred races for admission is still illegal discrimination based on race,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon.
The federal findings reveal stark statistical disparities. According to the DOJ, Black or Hispanic applicants were much more likely to secure admission than white or Asian applicants presenting the same academic metrics. Furthermore, in both 2024 and 2025, the median Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) scores for rejected white and Asian applicants were higher than the median scores for Black applicants who received admission letters.
National Enforcement Context
This action against Duke Law is part of a broader administration effort to enforce the Supreme Court’s mandate against race-based admissions. The DOJ recently issued similar findings against the medical schools at Yale University and the University of California, Los Angeles, and has opened parallel investigations into at least 15 other medical schools. For American workers and families who fund the federal student loan system and pay taxes supporting university endowments, the discrimination represents a direct breach of trust. Taxpayer-backed institutions continue to prioritize globalist diversity agendas over the meritocratic advancement of domestic students.
The DOJ stated it is seeking a settlement with Duke Law. The school responded that it is reviewing the letter and remains committed to following the law in a manner consistent with its academic mission. The findings serve as a warning that the federal government intends to scrutinize whether cultural criteria in admissions serve as a backdoor for the racial quotas the Supreme Court struck down.