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Students Against Racial Discrimination v. Regents of the University of California

February 2025
University of California (Public college or university)
Oakland, CA

Identity of Speakers

  • Students Against Racial Discrimination (SARD)
    Unaffiliated
    Other

    Nonprofit organization that advocates for race-neutral policies in education and challenges practices it views as racially discriminatory; Plaintiff

  • The Regents of the University of California
    Faculty/Staff
    Other

    Governing board responsible for overseeing the University of California system, Defendant

Resources

Additional Information

  • Incident Nature:
    Lawsuit
  • Incident Political Orientation:
    Left wing
  • Incident Responses:
    Litigation
    Title IX or other federal statute
  • Incident Status:
    In litigation Federal District Court
  • Did not involve Speech Codes

Summary

On February 3, 2025, Students Against Racial Discrimination filed a lawsuit against the Regents of the University of California in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleged that the University of California system engaged in racial discrimination in its admissions process by giving preferential treatment to Black and Hispanic applicants while disadvantaging Asian American and white applicants. The plaintiffs claimed this violated California Proposition 209, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. They sought injunctive relief to prevent the use of race in admissions and requested that the court appoint a monitor to oversee future admissions decisions.

On June 10, 2025, the plaintiffs filed a first amended complaint that expanded on the initial allegations, detailing the alleged racial preferences across multiple University of California campuses and programs. The amended complaint asserted that the University’s holistic admissions review incorporated race as a determinative factor and that applicants with stronger academic credentials were frequently rejected in favor of applicants from underrepresented racial groups. The amended complaint included specific examples of students who were allegedly denied admission despite having higher test scores, grades, and extracurricular achievements than admitted students of other racial backgrounds. News reports at the time highlighted that the lawsuit was part of broader legal scrutiny over race conscious admissions practices at the University of California.

In December 2025, the University of California filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim. On December 29, 2025, the district court issued an order denying the motion, finding that the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged that the University’s admissions practices involved consideration of race in a manner that could give rise to legal liability. The court noted that the complaint provided detailed allegations, including statistical analyses of admissions data, descriptions of University guidelines and admissions scoring rubrics, and specific examples of applicants who were allegedly disadvantaged. The court concluded that, if proven, these allegations could support injunctive relief to prevent ongoing discrimination.