The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a new civil rights investigation into Arizona State University, citing what it described as viral videos alleging students were treated differently based on race.
The referenced videos were not provided on June 3 about Title VI investigation, and federal officials said they had not reached any conclusions.
The federal agency said its investigation will “examine whether ASU subjects its students to illegal discrimination through its DEI policies in admissions, recruitment, scholarships, tutoring, and the provision of educational support.”
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal funding.
In response, ASU spokesperson Jerry Gonzalez said the university fully complies with federal laws and does not discriminate.
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"Not only would doing so violate Arizona Board of Regents and ASU policy, but ASU has since 2010 operated under a state constitutional provision that prohibits preferential treatment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public education," Gonzalez said, noting the school was aware of the federal agency's investigation and the viral videos.
"The university has no comment on these videos, as ASU does not comment on secret video recordings of its employees who are not authorized to speak on behalf of the university."
While not explicitly identified in the June 3 announcement, a conservative outlet known as "Accuracy in Media," published several edited videos taken by staffers who secretly filmed ASU faculty and administrators talking about the school’s policies or social ideology on campus. The videographers do not identify themselves as affiliated with the outlet.
The outlet's president, Adam Guillette, told The Arizona Republic that the undercover videos have gotten employees fired at several other universities across the country. The outlet has published more videos about ASU than any other school, he said.
One of the videos garnered half a million views on the social media platform X and was reposted by Kari Lake, an unsuccessful Arizona gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidate. She tagged Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Lake was the senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media at the time.
"ASU under the woke 'leadership' of Michael Crow is hiding their DEI program. Time to yank funding," Lake said.
In the June 3 announcement, Dhillon accused the university of not fully cooperating with the Justice Department.
“The United States is committed to keeping universities free of unlawful discrimination — especially when they try to hide illegal conduct to avoid oversight and compliance," Dhillon said in a statement.
The new probe comes after two separate investigations were launched by the U.S. Department of Education in March 2025 — one into an alleged connection to a diversity initiative and another tied to allegations of antisemitism on campus. The university strongly denied the basis of both allegations.
An Education Department spokesperson declined to comment on the previous probe in July 2025, saying the department "does not comment on open investigations."
The federal government launched a broader crackdown on DEI practices under the Trump Administration. Those efforts were based, in part, on an expansive interpretation of "Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard,” a Supreme Court decision that found race-conscious admissions unconstitutional.
The largest source of outside funding for Arizona’s public university system is from the federal government.
Government agencies have partnerships with several universities, including ASU, on a range of projects. In April, ASU announced a new master's program offered in partnership with the U.S. Department of War.
