Feb 5, 2025 Story by: Editor
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed this week alleges that the University of California engages in racial discrimination in its undergraduate admissions process by giving preference to Black and Latino applicants over Asian American and white students.
The lawsuit, brought by a group named Students Against Racial Discrimination, was filed Monday. It claims the university system admits students with weaker academic qualifications at the expense of more academically qualified applicants.
According to the complaint, UC’s admissions policies violate a state law passed by voters in 1996, which prohibits considering race and other factors in public education, employment, and contracting.
Additionally, the lawsuit argues that the university is violating the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars recipients of federal funding from discriminating based on race.
UC responded in a statement Tuesday, February 4, saying it had not yet been formally served with the lawsuit but would defend its admissions policies in court if necessary.
“Since the consideration of race in admissions was banned in California in 1996, the University of California has adjusted its admissions practices to comply with the law,” the statement said. “The UC undergraduate admissions application collects students’ race and ethnicity for statistical purposes only. This information is not shared with application reviewers and is not used for admission.”
The lawsuit seeks a court order preventing the university’s 10 campuses from inquiring about race on student applications and requests that a court-appointed monitor oversee the admissions process.
According to the complaint, Asian American and white applicants face discrimination based on their race, while Latino and Black students “often placed at a significant academic disadvantage, and thus experience worse outcomes, because of the university’s use of racial preferences.”
“Students of all races are harmed by the University of California’s discriminatory behavior,” the lawsuit claims.
The complaint further alleges that UC officials instructed campuses to adopt a “holistic” admissions review process, which it argues shifts the focus away from objective criteria toward more subjective assessments of applicants’ overall appeal.
As an example, the lawsuit cites data showing that in 2010, the University of California, Berkeley admitted 13% of Black, in-state students, compared to an overall admission rate of 21%. By 2023, the Black student admission rate at Berkeley had declined to 10%, while the overall admission rate stood at 12%, according to the complaint.
This legal action follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision over a year ago to strike down affirmative action in college admissions, ruling that race cannot be a determining factor. The decision has prompted institutions to explore alternative methods for achieving student diversity. Source: AP News
