Duke in the crosshairs: Trump's federal probe sparks a reckoning over race and academic power
The Trump administration has reignited one of the most contentious debates in American education, whether the pursuit of racial equity in universities amounts to unlawful discrimination.
Duke University, long celebrated for its academic prestige, now finds itself at the centre of a federal civil rights investigation over allegations that race played a role in selecting editors for its esteemed Duke Law Journal.
The investigation, announced Monday by the Department of Education, will examine whether Duke's editorial practices violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial discrimination in federally funded educational institutions.
At the heart of the inquiry is the claim that the law journal gives preference to candidates from minority communities during its editorial selection process.
'This investigation is based on recent reporting alleging that Duke University discriminates on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin by using these factors to select law journal members,' the department said in an official statement, as reported by
Reuters
.
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A broader pattern emerges
The probe at Duke is not an isolated case. It comes amid a wave of federal scrutiny targeting DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs at top-tier universities, including Harvard, Columbia, and Brown. The Trump administration has increasingly positioned itself against institutional efforts that acknowledge race as a factor in hiring, admissions, scholarships, or editorial decisions, arguing that such policies unfairly disadvantage others.
In a joint letter to Duke's leadership, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged the university to conduct an internal review and form a special panel 'with delegated authority from Duke's Board of Trustees to enable Duke and the federal government to move quickly toward a mutual resolution of Duke's alleged civil rights violations.'
Duke University has not publicly responded to the allegations or the federal request for cooperation.
Elite institutions in the crosshairs
The intensifying pressure from Washington has put some of the nation's most prominent institutions on the defensive. According to
The New York Times
, Harvard University is negotiating a settlement with the federal government that could cost as much as $500 million, more than double what Columbia University agreed to pay just last week, to resolve similar civil rights inquiries.
While Harvard appears willing to meet the government's financial demands, it is reportedly resisting calls to allow external oversight of its internal operations, considering such a move a breach of academic independence.
Meanwhile, Brown University has already taken preemptive financial measures. Following news that the Trump administration planned to freeze over $510 million in research and student aid grants, the university secured a $500 million loan, as revealed in recent regulatory filings.
DEI in the crossfire
What began as isolated legal disputes has evolved into a full-scale political campaign to dismantle DEI structures in American education.
The administration has threatened to cut federal funding not just over race-conscious policies, but also in response to climate-related initiatives, transgender rights, and pro-Palestinian campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza.
President Donald Trump has claimed, without evidence, that DEI practices result in discrimination against white students and men. Civil rights groups have consistently rejected such assertions, arguing that DEI efforts are corrective mechanisms designed to confront longstanding inequities that have historically excluded marginalized communities from academic opportunity.
Fears over
academic freedom
For many faculty members and civil liberties advocates, the federal campaign against DEI is seen not as a fight for fairness, but as an intrusion into academic freedom.
'This is not about fairness—this is about power,' said a spokesperson for a national civil rights coalition, speaking to
Reuters
on condition of anonymity. 'These federal investigations are a thinly veiled attempt to dismantle the very frameworks that have enabled underrepresented voices to gain a foothold in elite institutions.'
Legal scholars warn that the outcome of these cases could have far-reaching implications, not just for the future of DEI but for how much autonomy universities will be allowed to exercise in shaping their intellectual and editorial communities.
At a national crossroads
The federal government's expanding push into campus policy marks a critical moment for higher education in the United States. With lawsuits, investigations, and negotiations unfolding across the Ivy League and beyond, the Duke case reflects more than a single institutional dispute; it represents a broader reckoning with how the country defines fairness, opportunity, and inclusion.
As Duke braces for what could become a landmark legal and cultural confrontation, the outcome may well determine how freely American universities can pursue diversity in the years to come, or whether such efforts will now be viewed through the lens of civil rights violations.
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