Senator Ted Cruz Begins Investigation of Yale Law School Over Alleged Religious Discrimination

On April 4, after Yale Law School announced that it “will not financially support employment positions unless they are open to all of our student body” and that it “will not fund the work of an employer that refuses to hire students because they are, for instance, Christian,
black, a veteran, or gay,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) notified Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken of his intention to investigate Yale’s policy.

On April 4, after Yale Law School announced that it “will not financially support employment positions unless they are open to all of our student body” and that it “will not fund the work of an employer that refuses to hire students because they are, for instance, Christian, black, a veteran, or gay,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) notified Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken of his intention to investigate Yale’s policy.

At the time, Senator Cruz, chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, described the law school’s policy as brought about by “unconstitutional animus and a specific discriminatory intent both to blacklist Christian organizations and to punish Yale students whose values or religious faith lead them to work there.”

Senator Cruz now has begun his promised investigation.  

The senator has sent a letter to Yale Law School requesting that it turn over documents related to what the senator characterized as the law school’s “discriminatory policy against students serving in organizations professing traditional Christian views or adhering to traditional sexual ethics.”

The law school has disputed Senator Cruz’s contentions. In a statement, the law school declared that it “does not discriminate on the basis of religion, nor on the basis of race, gender, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, or gender identity” and that it “extend[s] that protection to the career services and financial support we provide our students and their prospective employers.”

Moreover, the law school said, for decades it has required employers who recruit at the law school “to certify that the positions they offer are open to all of our students.”

The law school added that it “cherish[es] and value[s] all of our students no matter whom they love, where they worship, or how they vote. That’s why we cannot, consistent with our nondiscrimination policy, subsidize employers who discriminate among them.”

We will continue to follow this dispute and discuss developments as warranted.

Learn more:

Sen. Cruz Launches Investigation Into Yale Law School
A Note from Dean Heather Gerken: Yale Law School’s Commitment to Nondiscrimination 
Sen. Cruz Demands Answers from Yale Law School Regarding Discrimination Against Christian Students 
Statement from Yale Law School on Nondiscrimination

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