TEMPE, Ariz. — The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday an investigation was being conducted on the diversity and equity practices of Arizona State University.
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The agency’s civil rights division will be handling the probe, which was prompted by “recent viral videos” of ASU apparently attempting to “hide its discriminatory practices” from federal officials.
“The Division’s investigation will examine whether ASU subjects its students to illegal discrimination through its DEI policies in admissions, recruitment, scholarships, tutoring, and the provision of educational support,” the DOJ wrote in a statement.
Some ASU staff members have been secretly recorded in recent months speaking with individuals posing as prospective students. The videos were posted by Accuracy in Media and show staff being asked questions about whether ASU has DEI programs.
ASU President Michael Crow told the State Press earlier this year he was aware of the secret recordings and described those tactics as a “terrible thing to do to someone.”
A spokesperson for ASU released the following statement in response to the DOJ investigation:
Arizona State University complies fully with federal law and does not discriminate in admissions. Not only would doing so violate Arizona Board of Regents and ASU policy, but ASU has since 2010 operated under a state constitutional provision that prohibits preferential treatment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public education. ASU is aware of the Department of Justice’s press release regarding an investigation and of the “recent viral videos” referred to in it. The university has no comment on these videos, as ASU does not comment on secret video recordings of its employees who are not authorized to speak on behalf of the university.
Institutions promoting principles and policies considered to be DEI have been the target of the Trump administration for the last couple of years with multiple of investigations being announced by the DOJ at various universities.
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Back in 2024, an ASU professor filed a lawsuit accusing the university of conducting trainings that taught “extreme, racially discriminatory tenets of DEI.”
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