Overview

• The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched an investigation to assess whether UC’s 2030 Capacity Plan employs race- and sex-based hiring quotas in violation of Title VII.
• UC’s plan sets targets to hire 1,100 ladder-rank faculty and recruit at least 40% of graduate students from minority-serving institutions by 2030.
• Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon cited “reasonable cause” to believe the university’s diversity directives may discriminate against applicants and employees.
• A UC spokesperson said the system is committed to fair, lawful processes under federal and state anti-discrimination laws and will cooperate fully with investigators.
• The probe forms part of the Trump administration’s broader scrutiny of DEI initiatives following earlier inquiries into campus antisemitism and affirmative action compliance.