California Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Race-Based Admissions Practices

The lawsuit claims UC admissions policies violate state and federal laws by favoring Black and Latino students, a charge the university denies.

A group called Students Against Racial Discrimination has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the University of California of using race-based admissions practices, which are prohibited under California's Proposition 209 and federal law.
The plaintiffs claim UC admissions favor Black and Latino students over Asian American and white applicants, despite the university's assertion that its policies comply with the law and do not consider race in admissions decisions.
The lawsuit alleges that UC's holistic admissions process uses socioeconomic and geographic data as proxies for race, leading to discriminatory outcomes against certain racial groups.
UC officials have denied the allegations, stating that race and ethnicity data are collected for statistical purposes only and are not used in admissions evaluations.
The legal challenge follows the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning affirmative action in higher education, which has prompted debates over how universities can achieve diversity within legal constraints.