The Trump administration has identified a new target in its battle with elite higher education, announcing a two-pronged front against Duke University on allegations the North Carolina school is in violation of the Civil Rights Act.

The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights probe into the Duke Law Journal after a conservative news outlet reported the academic publication factored law students’ racial and ethnic identities when selecting editors.

Applicants could receive as many as 10 points for writing about how their “membership in an underrepresented group” would “lend itself to …  promoting diverse voices,” the

The Washington Free Beacon reported that the Duke Law Journal sent a memo to minority applicants encouraging them to highlight their race and gender.

Duke must respond to the federal letter outlining concerns of race preferences across hiring, admissions and scholarship decisions. The university is being asked to create a Merit and Civil Rights Committee with authority delegated from Duke's Board of Trustees to work toward resolving the allegations.

Universities and colleges, under scrutiny from the Trump administration, have retained dozens of law firms across the country in investigations, settlements and lobbying matters.

The OCR investigates alleged racial discrimination at Duke University and its law journal, probing Title VI violations.