ASU DEI Under Scrutiny
DOJ Opens Title VI Investigation into Arizona State University's DEI Practices Over Discrimination Allegations
The U.S. Department of Justice opened a Title VI civil rights investigation into Arizona State University’s DEI practices, citing viral videos that allege students were denied equal treatment based on race, color, or national origin and that ASU tried to conceal discriminatory conduct from federal oversight. DOJ said the inquiry will examine whether DEI policies led to illegal discrimination in admissions, recruitment, scholarships, tutoring, and educational support services, and it has not released detailed video descriptions or findings. Multiple reports said the videos were not provided with DOJ’s June announcement. The allegations also include accounts that some ASU staff were secretly recorded while responding to questions from individuals posing as prospective students, which ASU President Michael Crow had previously criticized. ASU said it fully complies with federal law and does not discriminate in admissions, citing state constitutional limits on race- or ethnicity-based preferential treatment in public education. The investigation remains ongoing as DOJ reviews whether ASU’s DEI programs violate federal civil-rights requirements for institutions receiving federal funding.
Key Points
ASU said compliance with federal law is also supported by “Arizona Board of Regents and ASU policy,” and told ABC15 it would not comment on the viral footage because “ASU does not comment on secret video recordings of its employees who are not authorized …”.
One report said the secret-recording “viral videos” were posted by Accuracy in Media and depict ASU staff being asked questions while speaking with individuals posing as prospective students—specifically about whether ASU has DEI programs.
ASU President Michael Crow previously addressed the secret recordings, telling the State Press they were a “terrible thing to do to someone.”
A separate local report noted the scale of ASU, saying it is one of the nation’s largest universities, “home to over 160,000 students online and across numerous campuses.”
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