The Justice Department said Thursday it will investigate potential “illegal DEIs” in admissions at four California universities, suggesting that schools violated state law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent when evaluating college applicants, prohibiting race as a factor.
In announcing actions against UCLA, UC Irvine, Stanford and UC Berkeley. General Pam Bondi said she and President Trump were “committed to end illegal discrimination across the country and restore performance-based opportunities.”
The Justice Department statement describes the investigation as a “compliance review” in a short 248-word press release, with little detail and no timetable. It does not cite evidence that illegal practices or complaints usually trigger federal government research university practices.
It also seeks to reshape brand affirmative action, a term used for decades, as DEI, which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. The relatively new phrase is at the center of Trump’s practices in federal departments, university research grants, academic programming, and companies’ diversification. Trump argues that DEI’s efforts hurt whites and Asian people and promote individuals based on race rather than merit.
“For decades, elite universities and universities have prioritized racial quotas over equal opportunities, splitting Americans and discriminating entire applicants in the name of Dei,” the department’s announcement said.
A spokesman for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for details about its plans.
UC spokesman Rachel Zaentz said in a statement that when UC came into effect in 1997, UC stopped using race in admissions (race that prohibits the consideration of race in public education, recruitment and signing).
Since then, “UC has implemented admission practices to comply with the law,” Zaentz said. “At the same time, we remain committed to expanding access to all eligible students. UC undergraduate admissions applications collect students’ race and race only for statistical purposes. This information is not shared with application reviewers and is not used for admission.”
UC touts its overall admission process, which includes legal ways to seek racially diverse applicants, such as promotion to different high school communities.
Private universities stopped considering enrollment races after 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action against the right to be unconstitutional, Stanford spokesman Dee Mostofi said in a statement.
“We continue to work on fulfilling our obligations under the law,” Mostofi said. “We do not have detailed information about today’s announcement, but we look forward to learning more about their concerns and answering questions from the department.”
Trump’s war against Dei
The admissions survey is the latest chapter in a broad push for DEI efforts by schools and universities, many of which fall under admissions, while liberal and conservative legal experts say that it is within the scope of the law.
Ministry of Education Release Guide In February, all schools and universities said diversity programs, such as minority-centric scholarships and black and Latino graduation ceremonies – putting them at risk of losing federal grants.
In response, the school closed the diversity office or position or renamed it to eliminate diversity and fairness words. USC ends campus-wide diversity The office, merged it with the “culture” team and scrubbed faculty and staff into department-level websites with diverse languages. Last week, the University of California announced it would ban campuses from requiring faculty applicants Submit a “Diverage Statement” When applying for a job.
On Thursday, USC also announced that it had removed “diversity, equity, and inclusion” from its “unified values” list. On the same day, the University of Michigan, a pioneer in the diversity program, said it would close its central DEI office and ban diversity statements in recruitment, among other measures.
The Education Department also conducted surveys of UC Berkeley, California, University of California, and California State University San Bernardino, and dozens of campuses this month Under the allegation that they are illegal Working with Phd Project, a New Jersey-based nonprofit, promotes workplace diversity by connecting business school teachers with students. The department accused nonprofits of restricting participation based on race. The PhD program said this month it changed its policy of openness to everyone.
Campus must respond to the Trump administration on Monday and provide details about links to nonprofits.
The Justice Department has proposed that the University of California is violating admissions laws, which demonstrates a new scrutiny of campuses.
The 2023 Supreme Court ruling to overturn affirmative action led to a decline in Stanford University, with dozens of elite universities in admissions to black and Latino students. UC is gradually touting the enrollment rate of non-white people on its campus, which has roughly the same campus or has grown. UCLA has Significantly improved black and Latino students Application and enrollment rates after targeted outreach activities over 25 years.
Over the years, UC has shifted from using “academic indexes” and GPA for admission to a comprehensive review of consideration 13 factors, Including the rigor of GPA, courses, talents and life experience. The Admissions Supervisor said that the applicant is not a comparison with all other applicants, but rather a comparison with an applicant to a school or peer of similar socioeconomic conditions. Most selective universities, including the University of Southern California, also adopt a holistic review.
Nevertheless, UC still has lawsuits and criticisms about admission. In February, a group that claimed students opposed racial discrimination filed a lawsuit in federal court. Accused of UC illegally considering race When accepting new students. The complaint says that under Proposal No. 209 and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling, the system will not be able to carry out long-term growth in Black and Latino enrollment. Attorneys representing the organization include lawyers in the United States First Law, which was founded by President Trump Deputy Director Stephen Miller.
Anti-Semitism Investigation to Strike Pomona College
Also on Thursday, the Congressional Education Commission focused its anger on elite schools, believing that it failed to protect Jewish students Strictly worded letters Go to Pomona College in Claremont.
A letter from the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee requested information on “several anti-Semitism” during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and subsequent wars in Gaza.
The letter, signed by committee chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), details the chair of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development – details the multiple incidents on the Elite Free Arts School campus.
The plots include protests in April 2024, in which 20 pro-Palestine protesters stormed and occupied the university president’s office, an escalation of early turmoil that led to several arrests. A month later, when pro-Palestine activists erected tents on the main stage, the graduation plan was overturned, resulting in the ceremony being moved to Los Angeles
The letter from Walberg and Owens presents documents related to certain events it describes, as well as a list of all “student discipline/conduct cases” related to anti-Semitism since the October 7 attack. Members of Congress requested: “Please determine all circumstances in which the so-called perpetrators are involved in previous discipline incidents.”
Pomona College acknowledged receiving the letter and said in a statement that it “resolutely ensures that all our students, including our Jewish students, have the right to Pomona education, including taking all appropriate steps to prevent anti-Semitism” and will “fully collaborate.”
