Trump admin investigating Harvard Law Review over alleged discriminatory practices: Appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race

The Trump administration announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into alleged discriminatory practices at Harvard University’s vaunted law journal. The Title VI investigation is being conducted by the civil rights offices of both the Education Department and the Department of Health and Human Services. The offices are probing reports that Harvard Law Review uses “race-based criteria” in lieu of “merit-based standards” in its journal membership and article selection process. “Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as — if not more — important than the merit of the submission,” Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. “Title VI’s demands are clear: recipients of federal financial assistance may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin,” Trainor added.“No institution — no matter its pedigree, prestige, or wealth — is above the law.”“The Trump Administration will not allow Harvard, or any other recipients of federal funds, to trample on anyone’s civil rights.”The Trump administration referenced remarks reportedly made by Harvard Law Review editors in a private Slack group in 2024, as they debated who should be allowed to respond to an article about police reform. “Four of the five people raised in this message are white men, which I find concerning,” one editor wrote, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

“Having read the article pretty thoroughly, I think a huge missing piece was that of how race fits into policing and misconduct.” In a separate discussion, a Harvard Law Review editor reportedly suggested that a submission from a minority author should benefit from expedited review. “POC author,” the editor wrote.“We should send for [review] tonight if we want to move...