The University of California was sued this week by a student group for alleged racial discrimination because they reportedly “favor” Black and Latino students in the admissions process.
The federal case was filed on Monday by a group known as the Students Against Racial Discrimination.
The complaint claims that the university tends to admit students with “inferior academic credentials” and violates a 1996 law that prohibits the consideration of race and other factors when it comes to employment, education and contracting in the public sphere. The group also alleges that the equal protection clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are both being violated.
Through the lawsuit, the Students Against Racial Discrimination is attempting to get the university system to refrain from asking about race in admissions and have a court monitor involved in the admissions process.
The University of California vehemently denied the group’s claim in a statement.
“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,” said the university in a public statement. “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.”
Did you hear?
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) February 6, 2025
We just sued the University of California for race-based discrimination in admissions. pic.twitter.com/qDQkSYXO3o
The Students Against Racial Discrimination group alleges that Black students are among those that are favored in recent years.
In data released early last month by the University of California, statistics showed that only 4.8% of the school’s class for the fall semester are Black students; in comparison, 21% of the class are white students.
As for the incoming freshman class, there was only a slight increase in newly enrolled Black students, marking a slight increase from 2,407 students in 2023 to 2,493 students in 2024.
The lawsuit comes one year after the Supreme Court removed affirmative action in a landmark decision. The overturning has marked a victory for conservative activists as since then, higher education learning institutions, including Harvard Law School, have announced the decline of enrollment rates for Black students across the nation.
