UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine intentionally discriminated against applicants on the basis of race in admissions — in particular white and Asian Americans — for the past three years, according to U.S. Department of Justice allegations released Wednesday by the agency’s Civil Rights Division.
In a seven-page letter, the department wrote that the medical school “continues to intentionally discriminate against applicants based on their race after the Supreme Court’s decision in Harvard by granting and denying admission on the basis of race.” That 2023 decision — Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard — barred race-conscious admissions at colleges and universities but allowed schools to consider how race affected students if they wrote about their experiences in essays.
UCLA did not immediately respond to the DOJ report.
In January, when the DOJ sought to join an admissions lawsuit making similar accusations against UCLA, university spokesperson Phil Hampton said the medical school is “committed to fair processes in all of our programs and activities, including admissions, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws.”
The DOJ said its findings followed a year-long review it conducted under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race-based discrimination by recipients of federal funding.
Investigators alleged that UCLA leadership “intentionally selected applicants based on their race” and adhered to “the dubious contention that patients receive the best care when treated by a doctor of the same race.” The department also said that admitted Black and Hispanic applicants had, on average, lower median MCAT scores and grade-point averages than admitted white and Asian American applicants.
“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,” Asst. Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, the department’s top civil rights lawyer, said in a statement. “Racism in admissions is both illegal and anti-American, and this department will not allow it to continue.”
The Justice Department’s action against the medical school is the latest of several moves by Republican leadership and the Trump administration to probe alleged wrongdoing at UC and its academic health centers.
Last August the DOJ demanded a $1.2-billion settlement from UCLA after alleging the campus violated federal law by using race in admissions, recognizing transgender women by their gender identity and not responding adequately to complaints of alleged anti-Jewish incidents during a 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment. In November, U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin blocked vast swaths of the settlement proposal.
Wednesday’s letter to UCLA cited internal emails, training materials and a UCLA “guiding principles” memo that, according to the DOJ, instructed committee chairs to ensure representation of applicants who “identify as BIPOC.” Investigators also alleged that Jennifer Lucero, the medical school’s associate dean of admissions, “used intimidation and shaming tactics to pressure the admissions committee to unlawfully consider race.”
Lucero did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The findings build on a federal action filed in January, when the Trump administration moved to join a private lawsuit accusing the medical school of a “systemically racist approach” favoring Black and Latino applicants. That suit, brought by Do No Harm, Students for Fair Admissions and a rejected white applicant, is ongoing. UCLA, which is bound by Prop. 209 to not consider race as a factor in admissions, said at the time it does not comment on pending litigation.
The department said it is seeking a voluntary resolution with UCLA but said it is will pursue legal action if there is no agreement.
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