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Connecticut Democrats warned Yale University against reaching a deal with the Department of Justice, claiming that doing so would jeopardize the Ivy League school’s tax-exempt status.
Eight state representatives, comprising Yale alumni, wrote a letter to Yale President Maurie McInnis demanding that she, “in the strongest possible terms, make no deal with the DOJ.” The development comes as the institution negotiates with the Justice Department, addressing accusations that its school of medicine engaged in racial discrimination during the admissions process by favoring black and Hispanic applicants over white and Asian applicants, defying a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that prohibited race-based admissions.
“We understand that you are in a difficult position and empathize with your desire to quickly end this shakedown,” the lawmakers wrote. “But capitulating now would constitute a serious abandonment of Yale’s values, be a severe strategic miscalculation, and could jeopardize Yale’s relationship with the State of Connecticut — including state-granted privileges the University has long taken for granted.”
“To be clear: If you stand up for yourself, we will stand with you and support you in every way we can,” the letter continued. “Yale has the resources and legal position to fight and win. We urge you to do so — for the sake of your students, your faculty, the rule of law, and the values this University has always claimed to hold, and for so many embodied.”
State Reps. Matt Blumenthal, Steve Winter, Roland Lemar, Patricia Dillon, John-Michael Parker, Jonathan Steinberg, and state Sens. Saud Anwar and Herron Gaston signed the letter.
Earlier this month, McInnis revealed Yale is in talks with the DOJ after the department concluded an investigation into Yale that determined its school of medicine violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in any program receiving federal funding. In Yale’s most recent class, both Asian and white students had median MCAT scores in the 100th percentile, while black students had a median GPA of 3.88 and a median MCAT score in the 95th percentile. That was compared to Asian students who had a median GPA of 3.98 and white students with a 3.97 median GPA, according to the DOJ.
The development “required” that the institution seek a voluntary resolution with the government, McInnis said. She said that beyond the medical school investigation, the DOJ has pending investigations into admissions processes at Yale College and Yale Law School. The university president called Yale's decision to engage in the process "standard.”
"These investigations concern university compliance with federal law,” she said. “As a university committed to the rule of law, we take that obligation seriously."
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The Connecticut lawmakers struck back in the letter, calling the data DOJ cited in its lawsuit against the school “bogus — cherry-picked, statistically weak.”
“We believe it is imperative that Yale fight back against this abusive and lawless attempt to extort the University into abandoning its students, faculty, staff, and values,” Blumenthal said. “We care deeply about Yale – and helping protect a Yale worth protecting. To be clear: if Yale stands up for itself, we will stand with the University and support it in every way we can.”
