A lawsuit filed this week alleges that the University of California (UC) engages in racial discrimination in its undergraduate admissions by favoring Black and Latino applicants over Asian American and white candidates. The group Students Against Racial Discrimination initiated the federal court case on Monday, asserting that UC admits students with lesser academic qualifications at the expense of more qualified individuals.

The complaint contends that UC’s admissions practices violate California’s Proposition 209, enacted in 1996, which prohibits considering race in public education, employment, and contracting. Additionally, it alleges violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars racial discrimination by institutions receiving federal funds. The lawsuit seeks to prevent UC’s 10-campus system from inquiring about applicants’ race and requests the appointment of a court monitor to oversee admissions decisions.

In response, UC stated on Tuesday that it had not yet been served with the lawsuit but would defend its admissions policies if necessary. The university emphasized that since the 1996 ban on considering race in admissions, it has adjusted its practices to comply with the law, collecting race and ethnicity data solely for statistical purposes without sharing this information with application reviewers or using it in admissions decisions. The complaint criticizes UC’s “holistic” review process, alleging it shifts from objective criteria to more subjective assessments of candidates.

It cites statistics indicating that in 2010, UC Berkeley admitted 13% of Black in-state students compared to an overall 21% admission rate, and by 2023, the Black admission rate was 10% versus an overall rate of 12%. This legal action follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision over a year ago that struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring that race cannot be a factor and prompting institutions to seek new methods to achieve diverse student bodies.

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