Justice Department probes major California universities for ‘illegal DEI' in admissions

Los Angeles Times

28-03-2025

The Department of Justice on Thursday said it would investigate four California universities for potential 'illegal DEI' in admissions, suggesting the schools flouted state law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent banning the use of race as a factor when evaluating college applicants.
In announcing the actions against UCLA, UC Irvine, Stanford and UC Berkeley, Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said she and President Trump were 'dedicated to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity across the country.'
The Justice Department statement described the investigation as a 'compliance review' in a brief, 248-word news release with little detail and no timeline. It did not cite evidence of illegal practices or complaints that would typically trigger the federal government to research university practices.
It also attempted to rebrand affirmative action, a term used for decades, as DEI, which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. The relatively new phrase has been at the center of Trump's war on diversity practices in federal departments, university research grants, academic programming and corporations. Trump has argued DEI efforts hurt white and Asian people and promotes individuals based on race instead of merit.
'For decades, elite colleges and universities have prioritized racial quotas over equality of opportunity, dividing Americans and discriminating against entire groups of applicants, all in the name of DEI,' the department's announcement said.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department did not immediately reply to requests for details on its plans.
Rachel Zaentz, a UC spokesperson, said in a statement that UC stopped using race in admissions when Proposition 209 — which bans consideration of race in public education, hiring and contracting — went into effect in 1997.
Since then, 'UC has implemented admissions practices to comply with the law,' Zaentz said. 'At the same time, we remain committed to expanding access for all qualified students. 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 admissions.'
UC has touted its holistic admissions process, which includes legal ways to seek racially diverse applicants, such as outreach to diverse high school communities.
Dee Mostofi, a Stanford spokesperson, said in a statement that the private university stopped considering race in admissions after 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action was unconstitutional.
'We continue to be committed to fulfilling our obligations under the law,' Mostofi said. 'We do not have details about today's announcement, but we look forward to learning more about their concerns and responding to the department's questions.'
The admissions investigations are the latest chapter in a broad push against schools and universities over DEI efforts, many of which fall outside of admissions and which liberal and conservative legal experts say are within the law.
The Department of Education issued guidance in February to all schools and universities saying diversity programs — such as minority-focused scholarships and Black and Latino graduation ceremonies — put them at risk of losing federal grants.
In response, schools closed down diversity offices or positions or renamed them to remove the words diversity and equity. USC ended a campuswide diversity office, merging it with a 'culture' team, and faculty scrubbed department-level websites of diversity language. Last week, the University of California announced it would ban campuses from requiring faculty applicants to submit 'diversity statements' when applying for jobs.
On Thursday, USC also announced that it had removed 'diversity, equity and inclusion' from its list of 'unifying values.' The same day, the University of Michigan, a pioneer of diversity programs, said it would close its central DEI office and ban diversity statements in hiring, among other measures.
The Education Department also opened investigations into UC Berkeley, Cal Poly Humboldt and Cal State San Bernardino and dozens of campuses this month under allegations that they illegally partnered with the PhD Project, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that promotes workplace diversity by connecting business school faculty to students. The department accused the nonprofit of limiting participation based on race. The PhD Project said this month that it changed its policies to be open to all.
The campuses have until Monday to respond to the Trump administration with details about connections to the nonprofit.
The suggestion by the Justice Department that California universities are breaking the law in admissions signals a new level of scrutiny of campuses.
The 2023 Supreme Court ruling overturning affirmative action led to declines at Stanford and dozens of elite universities in admissions of Black and Latino students. UC has touted its campus-by-campus enrollment of nonwhite groups, which has remained roughly the same or has grown. UCLA has significantly boosted its Black and Latino student applications and enrollment after more than 25 years of targeted outreach.
Over the years, UC moved from using an 'academic index' based on test scores and GPA for admissions to a comprehensive review that considers 13 factors, including GPA, the rigor of coursework, talents and life experiences. Admissions directors say that applicants are not compared with all others across the board but more directly with peers in their schools or similar socioeconomic circumstances. Most selective universities, including USC, also employ holistic review.
Still, UC has faced lawsuits and critiques over admissions. In February, a group called Students Against Racial Discrimination filed a suit in federal court that accused UC of illegally considering race when accepting new students. The complaint alleged that the system's long-term growth of Black and Latino enrollment would not be possible under Proposition 209 and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling. Lawyers representing the group include those from America First Legal, which was founded by President Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller.
Also on Thursday, a congressional committee on education that has focused its ire on elite schools it believes to have failed to protect Jewish students sent a sternly worded letter to Pomona College in Claremont.
The U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education and Workforce's letter demanded information about 'several antisemitic incidents' in the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and amid the subsequent war in Gaza.
The letter — signed by the committee's chair, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), and Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), chair of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development — details multiple incidents that occurred on the campus of the elite liberal arts school.
Among the episodes was the April 2024 protests in which 20 pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed and occupied the college president's office, an escalation of earlier unrest that led to several arrests. Graduation plans were upended a month later when pro-Palestinian activists erected tents on the main stage, causing ceremonies to be moved to L.A.
Walberg and Owens' letter asked for documents related to some of the occurrences it described, and a list of all 'student disciplinary/conduct cases' associated with antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack. 'Please identify all instances in which alleged perpetrators were involved in previous disciplinary incidents,' the congress members requested.
Pomona College acknowledged receiving the letter and said in a statement that it is 'firmly committed to assuring the right of all of our students, including our Jewish students, to a Pomona education, including to taking every appropriate step to prevent antisemitism,' and would 'fully cooperate' with the inquiry.