The Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that an investigation by its Civil Rights Division had determined that the USCLA medical school discriminated against applicants on the basis of race.The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard in 2023. The DOJ investigation found that, on average, the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine admitted black and Hispanic students with lower qualifications than white and Asian students.
Black accepted students had a median 3.63 GPA, while Hispanic students had a median 3.55, White students had a median 3.75, and Asian students had a median 3.81. Similar disparities also existed among the MCAT scores.
“UCLA’s admissions process has been focused on racial demographics at the expense of merit and excellence — allowing racial politics to distract the school from the vital work of training great doctors.” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement. “Racism in admissions is both illegal and anti-American, and this Department will not allow it to continue.”
In a findings letter, the DOJ outlined communications between senior UCLA officials and admissions about ways to circumvent the ban on race-based applications.
The DOJ did not announce any charges, but stated that it sought a “voluntary resolution agreement” with the university.
Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.
