The Trump administration is freezing $108 million in research funding to Duke University as the federal government accuses the school of racial discrimination in the form of affirmative action, according to a person familiar with the matter.

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.

The Trump administration has frozen $108 million in federal funding for Duke Health, a senior administration official confirmed, amid allegations of “systemic racial discrimination.”