The University of California has been accused of using race as a determining factor while reviewing admissions.
The college is facing a bombshell lawsuit accusing it of engaging in racial discrimination in its undergraduate admissions process.
The lawsuit was filed this week in a Santa Ana, California federal court by Students Against Racial Discrimination.
The suit claims that UC systematically favors black and Latino applicants over Asian American and white students.
The process violates state and federal laws that prohibit race-based admissions policies, as The New York Post reported.
The legal challenge, brought, contends that UC is blatantly disregarding Proposition 209.
Prop. 209 is a 1996 voter-approved law that bans racial preferences in public education, hiring, and contracting.
The lawsuit further argues that UC’s practices violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial discrimination by institutions receiving federal funding.
According to the complaint, the UC system has been admitting students with weaker academic credentials while rejecting higher-achieving Asian American and white applicants based solely on race.
The lawsuit demands that the university refrain from inquiring about race in applications and calls for a court-appointed monitor to ensure that admissions decisions are based on merit rather than racial preferences.
The plaintiffs argue that UC has been instructing campuses to adopt a so-called “holistic” admissions review.
The review conveniently shifts the emphasis away from objective academic performance toward more subjective criteria.
This approach, they claim, has allowed administrators to sidestep legal prohibitions on affirmative action while still implementing race-based decision-making behind the scenes.
The complaint cites disparities in admissions at UC Berkeley, one of the system’s most prestigious campuses.
In 2010, black in-state applicants had a 13% acceptance rate, while the overall admissions rate stood at 21%.
By 2023, the black admissions rate had dropped to 10%, with the general acceptance rate at 12%.
The suit suggests that despite these figures, UC continues to manipulate admissions standards to artificially boost racial diversity at the expense of academically superior applicants.
This lawsuit follows the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that struck down race-based affirmative action in college admissions.
The ruling delivered a sharp rebuke to the left’s long-standing push for racial preferences in education, forcing universities across the country to scramble for alternative ways to shape their student demographics.
With UC already notorious for bending the rules to fit progressive agendas, the plaintiffs argue the university system is defying both legal precedent and the will of California voters.
The lawsuit makes it clear: students should be admitted based on merit, not on arbitrary racial quotas that undermine academic integrity and fairness.
As of now, UC officials have yet to respond to the allegations, but given the weight of this case, they won’t be able to stay silent for long.
The battle over racial preferences in college admissions is far from over, and this lawsuit may be just the beginning of a broader reckoning for institutions that continue to prioritize ideology over equal opportunity.
