The department's Office for Civil Rights opened the probe following a complaint filed earlier this month by three civil rights groups, who argued that Harvard's preference for "legacy" undergraduate applicants overwhelmingly benefits white students, in violation of a federal civil rights law.
Those statistics were calculated from Harvard admissions data that became public as a result of the case that the Supreme Court decided in June.
The Education Department through a spokesperson confirmed it had an open investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars race discrimination for programs receiving federal funds.
"Simply put, Harvard is on the wrong side of history," said Oren Sellstrom, the litigation director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, the Boston-based group representing the civil rights groups who prompted the Education Department investigation.
Sellstrom spoke at a Tuesday press conference regarding the federal probe, along with representatives for two of the Boston-area civil rights groups represented in the complaint.
Persons:
Nicole Rura, Oren Sellstrom, Sellstrom, Zaida Ismatul Oliva, Edward Blum, Julia Harte, Nick Macfie, Daniel Wallis
Organizations:
U.S . Department of Education, Harvard, Civil Rights, Harvard College, University of North, Harvard University, Supreme, Education Department, Ivy League, Department, Civil, Wesleyan University, University of Minnesota's, University of Minnesota's Twin Cities, Fair Admissions, NAACP, Mexican American Legal Defense, Thomson
Locations:
University of North Carolina, Cambridge , Massachusetts, University of Minnesota's Twin, Boston