Here Are The Facts

In 1996, over five million Californians voted for Proposition 209, which prohibited state institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity in awarding public contracts, hiring government workers, or admitting students to state universities. In 2020, over 9.6 million Californians (58% of voters) voted against Proposition 16, which would have repealed Prop 209. Not only have Californians become more united in opposing racial preferences, but they have become more unified across ethnic lines: voters of all races, in public opinion polls, voice opposition to the use of racial preferences in university admissions and hiring.

The University of California initially complied with Prop 209. Officials eliminated large racial preferences and fostered diversity in fairer and more effective ways, through outreach to high schools in poor neighborhoods, tutoring for disadvantaged students, and more generous financial aid to low-income applicants. This race-neutrality benefited all students: enrollment of students of all races was higher in 2006 than in 1996, and, with students better matched with campuses based on academic preparation, graduation rates rose steeply, especially for Black and Hispanic students.

The leadership of the University of California, however, continued to pretend that not using racial preferences undermined their vision for the university. In 2003, the UC Regents voted to repeal the university’s internal ban on racial preferences, and in 2007, UCLA adopted a new admissions policy that, as documented by Professor Tim Groseclose in his book, Cheating, reintroduced racial preferences on a large scale. A few years later, the university itself commissioned a secret study by Professor Robert Mare (later disclosed through a public records request) documenting over a thousand race-biased admissions decisions at UCLA.

The Mare Report is available here and here.

In 2011, top officials at UC directed the eight other undergraduate campuses to adopt admissions policies similar to UCLA’s. Since then, UC undergraduate admissions have become more and more like racial quotas. There is also broad and credible evidence of systematic “cheating” on Prop 209 by UC’s professional and graduate schools.

These actions violated California state law. It is now clear that UC's practices violate federal law as well. In June 2023, the Supreme Court issued rulings in cases brought against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Both universities, the Court ruled, had violated both Constitutional guarantees of equal protection, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, by giving positive or negative weight to applicants based on the student's race. UC's recent practices have been more aggressive in this regard than either Harvard or UNC, and there is no sign that UC has moderated these practices in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling.

Students Against Racial Discrimination (“SARD”) is committed to holding the University of California accountable to Prop 209 and to the prohibition on race-based preferences announced in 2023 by the United States Supreme Court. We have secured legal representation and sufficient funding to launch a federal lawsuit this December.

You can help! The most critical ingredient for the success of our efforts is the involvement of students who intend to, or are in the process of, applying for admission to UC. This means juniors and seniors in high school who are applying or likely to apply to Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, or another UC campus, and college students or recent graduates who are applying, or likely to apply to a UC graduate or professional program. If you are such a person, please contact us at info@sard.info. Any information you provide will be held in strict confidence.

Together, we can make the University of California accountable, transparent, and fair for all.