Duke Law School Faces DOJ Claims Over Race-influenced Admissions
WHO:
Fox News - Duke Law School, Justice Department (DOJ), Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, President Trump
ABC News - Duke University, Duke Law School
WHAT:
ABC News - Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated, “Duke Law School doesn’t get a free pass to discriminate against white and Asian students simply because it thinks it has good intentions.”
ABC News - The DOJ's findings letter indicated that Duke Law School used personal essays and first-generation college student status as proxies for race in admissions.
Fox News - The DOJ claims Duke Law School gave Black applicants 3.5 times higher admission chances than Asian applicants with the same credentials.
ABC News - The DOJ accused Duke Law School of unlawfully considering race in admissions.
ABC News - The DOJ stated that Black or Hispanic applicants were much more likely to be admitted than white or Asian applicants with the same academic credentials.
ABC News - The median Law School Admissions Test scores of rejected white and Asian applicants exceeded the median scores of admitted Black applicants in 2024 and 2025.
ABC News - The DOJ is seeking to reach a settlement with Duke Law.
WHERE:
ABC News - Durham, North Carolina
WHEN:
ABC News - The DOJ's findings letter was issued on a Thursday.
ABC News - Affirmative action in college admissions has been illegal since a 2023 Supreme Court ruling.
ABC News - The DOJ announced in June that it was launching investigations into 15 other medical schools.
WHY:
ABC News - The DOJ's actions are part of the Trump administration's efforts against higher education institutions regarding race-based admissions practices, as President Trump has accused colleges of using proxies to maintain racial diversity, which conservatives view as illegal discrimination.
ABC News - The DOJ's actions are part of the Trump administration's efforts against higher education institutions regarding race-based admissions practices.
ABC News - The DOJ claims that Duke Law School's practices violate the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action.
HOW:
ABC News - The DOJ previously targeted undergraduate admissions at selective colleges, demanding they collect data to show compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.
ABC News - Duke Law School allegedly used personal essays and first-generation college student status as proxies for race in admissions.
(UPDATED August 7, 2026 22:31 UTC)
The Department of Justice has raised concerns about Duke Law School's admissions practices, stating that the school used personal essays and first-generation college student status as proxies for race, which Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon argues is discriminatory against white and Asian students. This action is part of the Trump administration's broader initiative to challenge what it views as illegal discrimination in race-based admissions at higher education institutions, a stance that President Trump has consistently supported. Previously, the DOJ focused on undergraduate admissions at selective colleges, requiring them to provide data to demonstrate compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.
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(UPDATED August 7, 2026 20:39 UTC)
The Justice Department has accused Duke Law School of unlawfully considering race in its admissions process, claiming that Black applicants had admission chances 3.5 times higher than Asian applicants with identical credentials. The DOJ's findings indicate that the median Law School Admissions Test scores of rejected white and Asian applicants surpassed those of admitted Black applicants in 2024 and 2025, raising concerns about compliance with a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that deemed affirmative action in college admissions illegal. As part of the Trump administration's ongoing efforts against race-based admissions practices, the DOJ is seeking a settlement with Duke Law School, which allegedly used personal essays and first-generation college student status as proxies for race in its admissions decisions.