The Daily Fuckup

The Justice Department said on June 3, 2026, that it has opened a Title VI investigation into Arizona State University over its diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs. The department said the inquiry was prompted by viral videos and will examine whether students were denied equal treatment on the basis of race, color or national origin. At this stage, the announcement is a probe, not a finding. No violation has been established.

According to the department, investigators plan to look at admissions, recruitment, scholarships, tutoring and other support services tied to DEI programming. That gives the review a wide scope and places a range of campus practices under federal scrutiny, but the public record so far stops at the opening of the investigation. The department has not announced any conclusion, and ASU has not been found liable in the matter.

The case adds ASU, one of the state’s largest public universities, to a growing list of higher-education institutions facing federal review over programs that use race-conscious language or targeting. The legal question in a Title VI case is whether students were treated differently because of protected characteristics. The political question is how far the administration intends to push universities to rewrite or narrow DEI efforts while those investigations are pending.

For now, the only confirmed development is the investigation itself. The Justice Department says it will review whether ASU’s programs denied equal access or equal treatment. Until that review is complete, the rest is still speculation.