Arizona State University is under federal investigation over alleged diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, marking an escalation in the Trump administration's campaign against DEI programs in higher education.

The Department of Justice on Wednesday announced the investigation by its Civil Rights Division, saying it was prompted by recent viral videos that it said showed Arizona State denying equal treatment to students based on race, color, or national origin while attempting to conceal discriminatory practices from federal scrutiny.

"No student should be denied access to opportunities or resources because of race, color, or national origin," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

"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."

Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has issued multiple executive orders aimed at eliminating DEI practices at colleges and universities that receive federal funding or contracts.

The administration has directed federal agencies to pursue enforcement actions against programs it considers discriminatory under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including actions that could result in the loss of grants, contracts, or other federal funding.

Previous actions against more than 50 universities accused of maintaining discriminatory DEI-related programs were primarily led by the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights.

The DOJ's announcement comes months after Accuracy in Media, a conservative watchdog group, published the first in a series of secretly recorded videos of Arizona State employees discussing DEI programs at the university.

In January, ASU associate director Rebecca Loftus was recorded discussing how the university continues DEI-related programming despite directives from federal and state officials and a pending lawsuit.

During a meeting with an AIM investigator posing as a prospective student, Loftus said the university had put systems in place to continue those efforts. She also described the creation of new offices that she said help shield the programs from scrutiny.

Loftus indicated the approach was deliberate because openly promoting DEI could jeopardize university funding.

"You're not going to find very many programs that are going to broadcast it as before because the federal funding for universities, especially state-run universities like ASU," she said. "If you have federal funds that are withheld, it really makes a big impact."

It is unclear whether the "recent viral videos" described by the DOJ were related to AIM's investigation.

Chandra Crudup, an associate dean in Arizona State University's Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions and a clinical professor in its School of Social Work, told an undercover AIM investigator posing as a prospective social work student that departments within the university "started changing our language" in order "to not become a target" but are "still doing DEI."

Crudup discussed what she described as the university's "IDEA Office," which she said provides faculty with a "toolbox" for incorporating inclusive practices into coursework. The investigator identified Crudup as the person who oversees the office, a characterization she did not dispute during the recorded conversation.

Crudup also described an "inclusion network" made up of employees from academic and administrative units across the university who collaborate on inclusion-related initiatives.

"We started changing language, but we're still doing the same thing," Crudup said in the recording. "We've shifted some of our language."

An Arizona State spokesperson told Fox News Digital the university "complies fully with federal law and does not discriminate in admissions."

"ASU is aware of the Department of Justice's press release regarding an investigation and of the 'recent viral videos' referred to in it," the spokesperson said.

"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."