The U.S. Department of Education announced on Tuesday that it is investigating Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., and Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich., for alleged discrimination based on “shared ancestry” under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The department does not typically disclose the nature of its investigations, but it stated that the complaint against Liberty—a Christian school founded by Jerry Falwell Sr.—relates to alleged “national origin discrimination involving religion.”
JNS sought comment from Liberty and Cooley, which was formerly associated with Western Michigan University and which holds the nation’s lowest bar pass rate for an American Bar Association-accredited school. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a member of the so-called “Squad” in Congress, holds a J.D. from Cooley.