UCLA medical school uses a 'systemically racist approach' to admissions, DOJ alleges

"In documents filed in California's Central District, the Department of Justice alleges that UCLA's medical school uses a "systemically racist approach" to admissions that privileges Black and Latino applicants over those who are white and Asian American. Justice Department lawyers also allege that the school engages in "racial balancing" - trying to create a student body that is racially reflective of California - in violation the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause."

"Kelly Mahoney, a white woman who said she was rejected by the UCLA medical school because of her race, is also a plaintiff. The original suit cited unnamed "whistleblowers" who allege that Jennifer Lucero, the medical school's associate dean of admissions, "requires applicants to submit responses that are intended to allow the committee to glean the applicant's race" and that she and admissions officers "routinely and openly" have discussed using race in admissions."

The Department of Justice filed to join a federal lawsuit accusing UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine of using race in admissions to favor Black and Latino applicants over white and Asian applicants. DOJ lawyers contend the school practiced "racial balancing" to mirror California's racial makeup, violating the Equal Protection Clause and the Supreme Court's 2023 ban on race-based affirmative action. The filing responds to a May suit by Do No Harm, Students for Fair Admissions, and a white applicant who said she was rejected because of her race. Unnamed whistleblowers allege admissions officers solicited responses to identify applicants' race and openly discussed using race.

Read at Los Angeles Times