The Justice Department said Wednesday that UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine violated federal civil rights law by intentionally discriminating based on race in admissions for its incoming classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025.
According to the Justice Department, the Civil Rights Division completed a yearlong review of the medical school’s admissions policies and practices. The department said the school continued to consider race in admissions after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
The findings were released May 6 in a letter to Debo P. Adegbile, an attorney at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. The letter said the department reviewed whether UCLA’s medical school complied with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars race and ethnicity discrimination by recipients of federal financial assistance.
The Justice Department said internal policies, public materials and email correspondence from medical school leadership showed an intent to use race in admissions decisions despite the Harvard ruling.
In one example cited in the findings letter, the department said Alisa Lopez, the school’s executive director of admissions, sent an American Association of Medical Colleges document to Associate Dean of Admissions Jennifer Lucero and suggested it could be shared with admissions committee members. The department said the document outlined ways to pursue medical school diversity goals after the Harvard ruling, including the use of racial proxies and holistic review practices.
The findings letter also said the school’s secondary application asked applicants whether they identified as part of a marginalized group and asked a follow-up question about the impact. The department said that question was designed to reveal applicants’ race so it could be considered in admissions decisions.
The department also cited internal admissions guidance stating that Admissions Committee chairs would review recommendations to “ensure representation from those who identify as BIPOC” for selection of students to participate in the admissions committee. The findings letter said that language remained in place through the 2024 enrollment cycle before being removed in May 2025.
The department further alleged that Lucero used “intimidation and shaming tactics” to pressure admissions committee members to consider race, including requiring them to attend a two-hour lecture by her sister.
“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 of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the release.
The Justice Department also pointed to GPA and MCAT differences among admitted students by racial category. For the 2023 incoming class, the department said admitted Black and Hispanic students had median MCAT scores of 507, while admitted Asian and white students had median MCAT scores of 514. The letter said those scores placed Black and Hispanic admitted students at the 68th percentile, compared with the 88th percentile for Asian and white admitted students.
For the 2024 incoming class, the department said the median MCAT score was 508 for admitted Black students, 506 for admitted Hispanic students, 515 for admitted Asian students and 513 for admitted white students.
The findings letter said those disparities, along with internal documents and admissions practices, supported the department’s conclusion that the medical school discriminated based on race. The department said it believes the discrimination is ongoing.
“Federal law and the Supreme Court precedent are clear: Race discrimination has no place in our nation’s institutions of higher learning,” First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said in the release.
The department concluded that highly qualified white, Asian and other applicants were denied admission on the basis of race. It said it is seeking a voluntary resolution agreement with UCLA to bring the medical school’s admissions practices into legal compliance.
The findings letter said the department may pursue enforcement if voluntary compliance cannot be reached.
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