Anti-affirmative action group drops admissions lawsuit against Yale

Students for Fair Admissions dropped its lawsuit challenging Yale University’s race-conscious admissions policies after the Supreme Court gutted the practice in June.

The anti-affirmative action group and the Ivy League school voluntarily agreed to drop the case after Yale agreed to make several updates to its admissions process ahead of the fall 2023 undergraduate admissions season.

Key context: SFFA filed its challenge in February 2021, but the lawsuit was paused as the Supreme Court weighed the group’s challenges against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. In a ruling divided along ideological lines, the high court's six-justice conservative majority found that the universities discriminated against white and Asian American applicants by using race-conscious policies that benefited applicants from underrepresented backgrounds.

The lawsuit against Yale was similar to the one against Harvard and UNC, but stemmed from a Trump administration challenge that SFFA fought to keep alive in the courts. The Trump administration filed the lawsuit in October 2020 following a two-year investigation into the Ivy League institution's admissions practices. It was the strongest move by the Trump administration to rebuke the use of race in university admissions, and the Education Department and Justice Department investigation found that Yale discriminated against Asian American applicants.

Yale's response: "We are pleased that, after hearing Yale’s description of the steps we will take to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling, SFFA has decided to dismiss its case against Yale," the university said in a statement."

"Yale’s priorities remain unchanged: fully complying with the law, continuing to support a diverse and inclusive community, and maintaining a world-class admissions process that considers each applicant as an individual. We are confident that we can preserve these priorities going forward."

Admissions changes at Yale: The joint stipulation filed Thursday in the United States District Court of Connecticut outlined the changes the university agreed to implement in light of the Supreme Court case and the voluntary dismissal. SFFA and Yale, according to the document, discussed the institution’s response to the Supreme Court case and Yale provide “supporting documentation” of its changes ahead of the dismissal. Here’s a rundown of the changes:

— Yale said it has updated its training materials to make clear that race cannot be used as a factor in admissions decisions.

— The university agreed to take “technological steps” to ensure that no one involved in admissions decisions has access to race data or a race “check-box” at any time during the admissions review cycle.

— Yale’s admissions office also agreed to not run any reports during the review cycle that would provide any aggregate data of the racial composition of admitted students.

— Race will also not be considered when calculating or awarding financial aid at Yale.