US: University of California sued for discrimination against Whites, Asians

A lawsuit was filed on Monday against the University of California, US, accusing the public university system of racial discrimination in its admissions process. The complaint, submitted in a federal district court in California, claims that the university gives unfair preference to Black and Hispanic applicants, violating antidiscrimination laws.
The lawsuit was brought by

Students Against Racial Discrimination

, a group representing White and Asian students who argue that the admissions process should not consider race. The group wants the university to change its policies to comply with federal antidiscrimination laws, the

14th Amendment

, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial discrimination by institutions receiving federal funding. If successful, the lawsuit would prevent the university from considering or asking about an applicant’s race during admissions.
In response, the University of California said that racial and ethnic data collected in undergraduate applications is "for statistical purposes only and they are not used for admission." The university also said it has adjusted its admissions policies to follow Proposition 209, which bans

affirmative action

in California.
This lawsuit follows the US Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision that struck down affirmative action in college admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. It also comes at a time when some companies are reducing

diversity initiatives

, which have been criticized by US President Donald Trump and other conservative leaders.

Students Against Racial Discrimination, founded in 2024, said that its goal is to "restore meritocracy in academia" and oppose admissions policies that prioritize diversity over academic qualifications.
The lawsuit claims that the University of California uses a "holistic" admissions approach, similar to a system first implemented at UCLA, to reduce differences in admission rates between Black, Hispanic, and other applicants.
Since a state referendum was passed in 1996, the nine University of California schools—including the highly selective UCLA and UC Berkeley—have been prohibited from considering race in admissions decisions.
The plaintiffs claim that in the years following the referendum, the University of California system spent hundreds of millions of dollars to strengthen the pathway from high school to college for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This effort led to an increase in Black and Hispanic applicants and enrollments.