Education Department Probing Duke University, Law Journal for Breaching Title VI

In a competition to select editors, the journal offered additional points to people who ‘referenced their race or ethnicity,’ the department said.

Students pass under the arches at Duke University in Durham, N.C., in this file photo taken in 2006. Sara D. Davis/Getty Images

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into Duke University and the Duke Law Journal over alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it said in a July 28 statement.

“This investigation is based on recent reporting alleging that Duke University (Duke) discriminates on the bases of race, color, and/or national origin by using these factors to select law journal members,” the department said.