UCLA and UC Irvine targets of federal DEI investigation into admissions policies

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The U.S. Department of Justice announced it has opened compliance review investigations into admissions policies at UCLA and UC Irvine to determine if the universities were using diversity, equity and inclusion criteria in selecting students, officials announced today.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed the department's Civil Rights Division to begin the probe because of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision that race-conscious affirmative action programs, which consider an applicant's race as a factor in admissions decisions, are unconstitutional.

"President Trump and I are dedicated to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity across the country," Bondi said in a statement. "Every student in America deserves to be judged solely based on their hard work, intellect and character, not the color of their skin."

According to the DOJ, elite colleges and universities have long prioritized racial quotas over equality of opportunity, dividing Americans and discriminating against entire groups of applicants in the name of diversity.

The DOJ blamed the prior administration for advancing the DEI ideology, "and did nothing to protect the civil rights of American students," according to the statement.

"The Department of Justice will put an end to a shameful system in which someone's race matters more than their ability," acting Associate Attorney General Chad Mizelle said in a statement. "Every college and university should know that illegal discrimination in admissions will be investigated and eliminated."

The compliance investigations into the universities "are just the beginning of the department's work in eradicating illegal DEI and protecting equality under the law," according to the statement.

The University of California Office of the President issued a statement saying, "since the consideration of race in admissions was banned in California by Proposition 209, UC has implemented admissions practices to comply with the law. At the same time, we remain committed to expanding access for all qualified students. 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 admissions."