WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, America First Legal (AFL) and co-counsel Jonathan F. Mitchell filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the University of California for engaging in illegal race-based discrimination against White and Asian applicants in student admissions.
The complaint alleges that the University of California system uses a “holistic” admissions policy as a pretext for racial preferences in admissions system-wide, artificially suppressing White and Asian enrollment and violating federal statutes and the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. It further alleges that this policy was designed to admit certain applicants with inferior academic credentials because of their race, color, sex, or national origin at the expense of others with better academic credentials but disfavored immutable characteristics.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that data shows race-neutral admissions historically benefitted Black and Hispanic students both in terms of placement and academic outcomes. Still, the system’s current “diversity” preferences are harmful and destructive to all students.
Racist higher education admissions policies are a long-standing problem. The University of California system itself has made extraordinary efforts to undermine the race-neutral admission standards imposed by California’s Proposition 209.
Notably, President Trump’s Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” directs the U.S. Department of Education to investigate nine large universities that violate civil rights laws and requires the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education to jointly issue guidance to certain institutions of higher education. This includes the University of California system, regarding the non-discrimination requirements of Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023).
This case is another step in AFL’s ongoing efforts to combat illegal racial discrimination in higher education. In the last year alone, AFL filed lawsuits against Ohio Northern University for terminating a tenured professor for objecting to illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices, Northwestern University for discriminating against white men in faculty hiring, and New York University for engaging in illegal race and sex-based discrimination in selecting members of its law review.
AFL remains committed to ending illegal discrimination in academia and securing every American student’s right to be judged based on individual merit.
Statement from Reed D. Rubinstein, America First Legal Senior Vice President:
“Every American student should be judged based on individual initiative, excellence, and hard work, not race, color, national origin, or sex. Indeed, this is what our laws require. These higher education industry bureaucrats, however, apparently deem themselves above the law and free from federal Constitutional constraints. This case is a reminder that federal law applies even in California,” said Reed D. Rubinstein.
Statement from Ryan Giannetti, America First Legal Counsel:
“No one should be denied an opportunity for higher education because of immutable characteristics. Far too many educational institutions use ‘holistic evaluation’ as a euphemism—a smokescreen for policies that have not changed even after the Supreme Court explained that such discrimination is illegal,” said Ryan Giannetti.
Read the lawsuit here.
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