DOJ Investigating Alleged Racial Discrimination at CUNY

The Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on June 9 that its Civil Rights Division has launched a probe into whether the City University of New York (CUNY) discriminates based on race through its Black Male Initiative program.

The investigation comes after reports that the program offers educational benefits, including in recruitment, admissions, student aid, academic support, and professional development, mainly to black men and other select non-white minorities.

CUNY receives federal financial assistance and thus must be in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in any program or activity receiving federal funds.

“Race can never play a role when deciding how to distribute educational resources or opportunities,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “This Justice Department will not tolerate universities directing educational benefits to certain students over others based on their race.”

CUNY has yet to issue a public response to the announcement and did not return a request for comment by publication time.

Department officials say the Black Male Initiative favors black men, as its name suggests, and certain other minority groups over applicants of other races. The Civil Rights Division has not come to any conclusions regarding whether the program is in violation of federal law.

On its official website, CUNY described the initiative as a university-wide effort to increase the inclusion and educational success of students from underrepresented groups in higher education, such as African, African American, black, Caribbean, and Latino or Hispanic males. The program’s goals include increasing enrollment, retention, grade point averages, and graduation rates for these students by offering additional academic and social support.

CUNY materials also highlight that all Black Male Initiative programs and activities are available to all academically eligible students, faculty, and staff without concern for race, gender, national origin, or other characteristics.

The investigation is led by the Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section. Officials underscored that the investigation is fact-based and aligned with the division’s responsibility to enforce Title VI at institutions that receive federal funds.

The Black Male Initiative has been in operation for more than two decades, growing out of a CUNY task force report dated Sept. 12, 2005. The program has expanded to more than 30 individual projects across the university’s campuses and holds an annual conference.

The investigation will stay focused on the Black Male Initiative and does not address the broader operations of CUNY. The university system represents the largest urban public university in the United States and serves hundreds of thousands of students.

If the investigation finds violations under Title VI, the department can move for voluntary compliance or pursue further enforcement, such as potential administrative or legal remedies. The division highlighted that its role at this stage is to gather facts and determine whether CUNY’s practices comply with federal laws that prohibit racial discrimination.

The DOJ, in March, also opened race discrimination probes at three medical schools and filed a lawsuit in February against Harvard for allegedly withholding admissions documents on race.

The Education Department found in 2024 that CUNY failed to address anti-Semitic and anti-Palestinian harassment on campus.