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Lawsuit alleges University of California illegally considers race in admissions
UCLA's central campus
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UCLA
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Alan Nyiri
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A lawsuit filed Monday in federal district court alleges that the University of California illegally considers race in undergraduate admissions and gives preference to “non-Asian racial minorities,” including Black and Latino students.
The lawsuit was filed by Students Against Racial Discrimination, an organization founded last year by Richard Sander, a law professor at UCLA, and Tim Groseclose, a professor of economics at George Mason University in Virginia. Sander is a prominent critic of affirmative action and previously filed a lawsuit against UC in 2018. That lawsuit sought more information about UC applicants and suggested that the university might be considering race in admissions, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Proposition 209, a 1996 ballot measure, bans California’s public colleges from considering race in admissions. And in 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court banned affirmative action nationwide.
Stett Holbrook, a spokesperson for UC, said in an email Monday that UC has not yet been served with the lawsuit and will wait until then to “respond as appropriate.” He added, however, that UC complies with Prop. 209. “UC undergraduate admissions applications collect students’ race and ethnicity for statistical purposes only and they are not used for admission,” he said.
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The lawsuit filed Monday claims UC “discriminates against large numbers of Asian- American and white applicants, who are denied admission to UC schools based on their race.” The lawsuit asks a judge to appoint an independent monitor to review UC admissions for an indefinite period.
Asian-American students made up 36.3% of UC’s undergraduate students in fall 2024 and white students accounted for just under 20%. Black students accounted for 4.7%, while Latino students made up 26.7%.
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