A New York university faces Justice Department investigation over 'Black Male Initiative'

The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division announced an investigation into the City University of New York (CUNY) over its "Black Male Initiative (BMI)."

According to the CUNY website, BMI’s mission "is to increase, encourage, and support the inclusion and educational success of students from groups that are severely underrepresented in higher education, in particular African, African American/Black, Caribbean and Latino/Hispanic males."

In a press release on Tuesday, the DOJ confirmed that it has begun investigating the New York institution for potentially violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race or color by institutions that receive federal financial aid.

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Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon released a statement on the investigation Tuesday. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

"Race can never play a role when deciding how to distribute educational resources or opportunities," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement. "This Justice Department will not tolerate universities directing educational benefits to certain students over others based on their race."

The DOJ clarified that the Civil Rights Division "has not reached any conclusions" regarding the university yet.

Fox News Digital reached out to CUNY for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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The City University of New York's (CUNY) Black Male Initiative was implemented across 24 schools, according to a civil rights complaint. (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Black Male Initiative began at the City University of New York approximately 21 years ago with the goal of increasing the enrollment, retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students. The initiative was originally investigated in 2012 under the Obama administration, which determined it was "permissible for a college to conduct race-targeted recruiting."

The initiative was also the subject of a civil rights complaint last month by the Equal Protection Project (EPP), which noted that BMI operates across 24 New York campuses and that White students are more often than not minorities at CUNY.

"If CUNY had a 'White Male Initiative' structured similarly to BMI such race-based recruiting would not be tolerated, much less funded and promoted. It is up to DOJ to ensure that the civil rights laws are enforced in a race-neutral manner," the EPP wrote in its complaint.

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The Black Male Initiative has been pushed across New York campuses for 21 years. (Getty Images)

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This announcement is the latest in a long list of investigations by the Trump administration into U.S. universities for allegedly violating civil rights through initiatives that favored minority students.