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Education Department Opens Civil Rights Investigation into Duke Over Race-Based Editor Selection

The departments demanded Duke establish a Merit and Civil Rights Committee followed by reforms to race-preference practices under threat of funding cuts.

A general view of the Duke University Chapel and a statue of James Buchanan Duke on the Duke University campus on March 4, 2016 in Durham, North Carolina.
United States Department of Education logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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Overview

  • The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened a directed Title VI investigation into Duke University and the Duke Law Journal over alleged race-based bonus points in the 2024 editor selection process.
  • Officials cited a report that Duke Law Journal’s selection rubric awarded up to 10 extra points for applicants’ membership in underrepresented groups and additional points for affinity-group leadership.
  • Education Secretary Linda McMahon and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. jointly required Duke to form a Merit and Civil Rights Committee to work with federal officials on policy reviews.
  • The agencies have given Duke a six-month deadline to provide clear and verifiable assurances of compliance or face potential enforcement proceedings, including loss of federal funding.
  • This probe extends the administration’s broader Title VI campaign targeting diversity initiatives at elite institutions, following investigations of Harvard Law Review, George Mason University and DACA scholarship programs.