Latest news with #StudentsAgainstRacialDiscrimination
The Guardian
05-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
University of California rejects claim it was sued for racial discrimination
A newly formed group dedicated to fighting what it calls the covert use of affirmative action in admissions decisions by colleges in the University of California system announced on Monday that it was filing a lawsuit, aiming for an injunction to prohibit any consideration of race in student admissions. 'The University of California has not been served with the filing,' a spokesperson for the UC system, Stett Holbrook, said on Tuesday. 'If served, we will vigorously defend our admission practices' Holbrook added. 'We believe this to be a meritless suit that seeks to distract us from our mission to provide California students with a world class education.' The consideration of race in college admissions was banned in California in 1996, when voters approved the ballot initiative Proposition 209. The group behind the suit, Students Against Racial Discrimination, was founded by Richard Sander, a professor of law at UCLA, and Tim Groseclose, a professor of economics at George Mason University. Although the two professors are the only named members of the 'students' group, their website says that unnamed students are members. 'We include students (and parents of students) who have been rejected by the UC schools even as classmates with substantially lower academic credentials – but a more favorable skin pigmentation – have been accepted,' the site says. The founding members say the group was established in late 2024 to 'restore meritocracy in academia' and say that diversity considerations are still being used by UC schools. The group's website points to two recent headlines to suggest that the UC schools 'pretend' not to consider race in admissions. One is from a New York Times report last August, At M.I.T., Black and Latino Enrollment Drops Sharply After Affirmative Action Ban. That report noted that after the US supreme court's 2023 decision banning affirmative action, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology saw a sharp drop in the percentage of Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander students. The second headline was from a Los Angeles Times report a month before: UC sets new record with largest, most diverse class of California students for fall 2024. That report noted: 'The University of California admitted the largest and most diverse class of undergraduates for fall 2024, opening the doors of the vaunted public research institution to more California low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students of color.' 'Why,' Students Against Racial Discrimination demanded to know, 'did the UC's demographics not change like MIT's?' The legal complaint accuses the California system of using 'holistic' approaches first adopted at UCLA to consider Black and Latino applicants. The suit, filed in federal court in Santa Ana, California, asks the court to appoint a court monitor to oversee admission decisions. America First Legal, which was founded by Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, is supporting the suit. UC maintains that adjusted its admissions practices to comply with that law. 'We stand by our admission policies and our record of expanding access for all qualified students.' Holbrook said. '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.'
The Guardian
04-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
University of California accused of discriminating against white and Asian American students
A lawsuit filed this week accuses the University of California of racial discrimination in undergraduate admissions by favoring Black and Latino students over Asian American and white applicants. A group called Students Against Racial Discrimination sued Monday in federal court, alleging the university system admits students with inferior academic credentials at the expense of better-qualified ones. The complaint claims UC's admissions practices violate a state law approved by voters in 1996 that forbids considering race and other factors in public education, public employment and public contracting. In addition, the filing alleges that the California campuses are violating the equal protection clause of the US constitution's 14th amendment as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars federal funds recipients from discriminating based on race. UC officials didn't immediately respond Tuesday to emails and phone calls seeking comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit asks a judge to block the university system with 10 campuses from asking about race in student applications and to appoint a court monitor to oversee admission decisions. Asian American and white applicants are discriminated against because of their race, while Latino and Black students are 'often placed at a significant academic disadvantage, and thus experience worse outcomes, because of the university's use of racial preferences', the complaint alleges. 'Students of all races are harmed by the University of California's discriminatory behavior,' the lawsuit says. It accuses UC officials of ordering campuses to use a 'holistic' review of undergraduate admissions, 'in other words, that they move away from objective criteria towards more subjective assessments of the overall appeal of individual candidates'. As an example, the filing cites a statistic that in 2010 the University of California, Berkeley admitted 13% of Black, in-state students, compared with an overall 21% admission rate. By 2023, the Black admissions rate at Berkeley was 10%, compared with an overall rate of 12%, the complaint said. The lawsuit comes more than a year after the US supreme court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
CBS News
04-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Lawsuit accuses University of California of racial discrimination in admissions
A lawsuit filed this week accuses the University of California of racial discrimination in undergraduate admissions by favoring Black and Latino students over Asian American and white applicants. A group called Students Against Racial Discrimination sued Monday in federal court, alleging the university system admits students with inferior academic credentials at the expense of better-qualified ones. The complaint claims UC's admissions practices violate a state law approved by voters in 1996 that forbids considering race and other factors in public education, public employment and public contracting. In addition, the filing alleges that the California campuses are violating the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars federal funds recipients from discriminating based on race. UC officials didn't immediately respond Tuesday to emails and phone calls seeking comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit asks a judge to block the university system with 10 campuses from asking about race in student applications and to appoint a court monitor to oversee admission decisions. Asian American and white applicants are discriminated against because of their race, while Latino and Black students are "often placed at a significant academic disadvantage, and thus experience worse outcomes, because of the university's use of racial preferences," the complaint alleges. "Students of all races are harmed by the University of California's discriminatory behavior," the lawsuit says. It accuses UC officials of ordering campuses to use a "holistic" review of undergraduate admissions, "in other words, that they move away from objective criteria towards more subjective assessments of the overall appeal of individual candidates." As an example, the filing cites a statistic that in 2010 the University of California, Berkeley admitted 13% of Black, in-state students, compared with an overall 21% admission rate. By 2023, the Black admissions rate at Berkeley was 10%, compared to an overall rate of 12%, the complaint said. The lawsuit comes more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
The Independent
04-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Lawsuit accuses University of California of racial discrimination in admissions
A lawsuit filed this week accuses the University of California of racial discrimination in undergraduate admissions by favoring Black and Latino students over Asian American and white applicants. A group called Students Against Racial Discrimination sued Monday in federal court, alleging the university system admits students with inferior academic credentials at the expense of better-qualified ones. The complaint claims UC's admissions practices violate a state law approved by voters in 1996 that forbids considering race and other factors in public education, public employment and public contracting. In addition, the filing alleges that the California campuses are violating the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars federal funds recipients from discriminating based on race. UC officials didn't immediately respond Tuesday to emails and phone calls seeking comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit asks a judge to block the university system with 10 campuses from asking about race in student applications and to appoint a court monitor to oversee admission decisions. Asian American and white applicants are discriminated against because of their race, while Latino and Black students are 'often placed at a significant academic disadvantage, and thus experience worse outcomes, because of the university's use of racial preferences," the complaint alleges. 'Students of all races are harmed by the University of California's discriminatory behavior,' the lawsuit says. It accuses UC officials of ordering campuses to use a 'holistic' review of undergraduate admissions, 'in other words, that they move away from objective criteria towards more subjective assessments of the overall appeal of individual candidates.' As an example, the filing cites a statistic that in 2010 the University of California, Berkeley admitted 13% of Black, in-state students, compared with an overall 21% admission rate. By 2023, the Black admissions rate at Berkeley was 10%, compared to an overall rate of 12%, the complaint said. The lawsuit comes more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
University of California student group alleges racial discrimination in admissions
A University of California student group sued the school system Monday, alleging racial discrimination in admissions. Students Against Racial Discrimination filed a suit saying the university system gives 'discriminatory preferences to non-Asian racial minorities.' The suit says Asian American and white applicants are turned away while Black and Hispanic students 'are often placed at significant academic disadvantage, and thus experience worse outcomes, because of the university's use of racial preferences.' The student group is accusing the University of California of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the 14th Amendment and Proposition 206 in California, which forbids race as a factor in public education. The suit points to actions taken by the system, such as encouraging its schools to adopt 'holistic' admission policies that a previous chancellor said would help with low admission rates of minority students, comparing admission rates of Black applicants between 2010 and 2023 and the system allegedly shutting down resources outsiders could use to study this issue. 'Trends in racial admissions patterns consistently show that the adoption of the holistic process favored black and Hispanic admissions and disfavored Asian-Americans and, to a lesser extent, whites,' the suit reads. One of the attorneys for the student group is Jonathan Mitchell, a prominent conservative attorney who regularly brings cases to the Supreme Court. The Hill has reached out to the University of California for comment. The lawsuit comes after the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative action could not be used in higher education. Schools have been searching for other ways to ensure diversity among their students, meaning that the fight over how race and ethnic information is used among colleges and universities is not over. One likely next battleground will be around college scholarships that include a race or ethnicity portion, with one lawsuit already in the court system over the issue. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
