Harvard's Admission Policies Under Federal Investigation

Harvard University's use of race in admission policies is under investigation by the Justice Department, CNN is reporting.

And the Justice Department already has concluded the school is "out of compliance" with federal law, the news network reported.

CNN attributed its information to documents it obtained.

According to The Wall Street Journal, officials are looking into complaints that sparked a federal civil lawsuit in 2014. It claimed Harvard was discriminating against Asian-Americans by limiting the number of Asian students admitted to the school, the newspaper said.

The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is probing other similar allegations, the newspaper said.

Justice officials said in a letter to the school's lawyers that Harvard has failed to turn over documents relating to admission policies and practices, the newspaper reported. And they warned Harvard that the Justice Department may file a lawsuit if it doesn't comply with the request.

The New York Times reported earlier this year the Trump administration was set to redirect resources in the Justice Department to investigate college affirmative action admissions deemed to discriminate against white applicants.

"The civil rights laws were deliberately written to protect everyone from discrimination, and it is frequently the case that not only are whites discriminated against now, but frequently Asian-Americans are as well," said Roger Clegg, a former official in the civil rights division during the Reagan administration and the first Bush administration who is now the president of the conservative Center for Equal Opportunity.

Schools found to be in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, can lose federal funding, according to the Journal.

Seth Waxman, a lawyer representing Harvard, had no comment on the matter, the Journal said.

And Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley said: "The Department of Justice takes seriously any potential violation of an individual's civil and constitutional rights."

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