Yale Prez Commits To “Safeguarding Academic Freedom” Amid DOJ Talks

by Staff 

Yale President Maurie McInnis sent out the following email to Yale community members on Monday morning about the university’s potential settlement with the Trump administration over its admissions policies. Students, faculty, alums, and elected officials mobilized last week to oppose such a settlement.

Dear Members of the Yale Community,

Many of you have written to me in the past week regarding investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) into the admissions processes of Yale School of Medicine, Yale College, and Yale Law School. At Yale, our standard is to refrain from commenting on ongoing legal matters to protect the integrity of the process for Yale. I am making an exception in this instance because I am seeing speculation and misinformation spreading, and it is causing concern in our community. I recognize that this can happen when there is an absence of information, so I want you to hear the facts directly from me.

On May 14, the DOJ issued findings based on its investigation into the admissions policies and practices of the Yale School of Medicine. The DOJ also has pending investigations into the admissions processes of Yale College and Yale Law School.

These investigations concern university compliance with federal law; specifically, a federal statute, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court required colleges and universities across the country, including Yale, to adhere to new legal standards in admissions in its 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. As a university committed to the rule of law, we take that obligation seriously.

When the DOJ issues findings of an investigation, federal law provides a process for the parties to engage in seeking a voluntary resolution. It is a standard and important practice that lawyers for the involved parties and the government participate in conversation and exchange of information to determine whether they can resolve the matter without further legal action. Yale is currently engaged in this process of talking and listening. It is a required and reasonable step, and we are participating in good faith.

We are approaching these matters with five fundamental principles. First, we are wholeheartedly committed to safeguarding academic freedom. Our students and faculty have the intellectual freedom to study, teach, and publish according to their scholarly interests in keeping with the standards of their discipline. Second, Yale must maintain the right to decide who we admit and hire in accordance with the law. Third, we hold dear our university’s tradition of protecting free expression on our campus. Fourth, we are determined to continue advancing Yale’s mission of education, research, and scholarship. And fifth, we make all our decisions by prioritizing our responsibilities to our students, faculty, staff, and patients, as well as the university as a whole.

These are the principles that guide us in how we engage in any legal inquiry, but they are not the whole of what we ask of ourselves. We are also guided by the long-time efforts of our faculty, students, staff, and alumni who help us engage in a process of continual self-assessment. The most recent examples of such reflection relevant to admissions culminated this past spring, with the Presidential Council on Yale College Admissions and the Committee on Trust in Higher Education.

Guided by their recommendations, we began refining our admissions processes based on a high standard of candor and on an unambiguous fact: We are proud of our students, who come from across the country and around the world and bring a multitude of talents, experiences, and ideas. For example, we have further clarified on Yale College’s admissions website the magnitude of academic achievement of our current students, so applicants are aware of what they need to accomplish. We now state explicitly that academic strength has long been the predominant criterion in our holistic evaluation of applicants, and the overwhelming majority of admitted students score in the ninety-fifth percentile or higher on the SAT or ACT. Throughout the university, we have bolstered our training so that readers and decision-makers understand the law and federal guidelines for admissions, and our faculty and staff in admissions will keep studying how to continually enhance the admissions process based on our own high standards and the requirements of the law.

I know there are divergent views about admissions policy in general and these investigations in particular. I very much want to hear those views and welcome your reply to this message. And I am so grateful to everyone who has already sent me their thoughtful questions and advice.

I will update you when I have more news to share. In the meantime, I will continue to draw on my experience as a student, professor, and university leader to navigate the present moment. Amid this uncertainty, you can be certain of my promise to the entire Yale community: my decisions will be guided by what I believe is in the best interests of our university.

Sincerely,
Maurie McInnis
President
Professor of the History of Art