The Justice Department sought to join a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing the University of California, Los Angeles‘s medical school of engaging in racial discrimination.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the DOJ alleged that the David Geffen School of Medicine violated civil rights laws by considering race as a factor in its admissions process. Admissions data show large disparities between the academic preparation of minority applicants and non-minority applicants, the government alleged. It said the school’s policies violate the Supreme Court’s landmark 2023 ruling that effectively banned affirmative action or race-conscious systems. Affirmative action has been illegal in California since 1996.
“Even after the Supreme Court banned race-balancing, the Geffen School kept discriminating by using illegal DEI preferences in admissions,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
“As the Supreme Court stated more than 80 years ago, a free people, founded on the doctrine of equality, regard distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry as inherently odious,” she added. “This Civil Rights Division will not tolerate such conduct and welcomes the Court’s role in ensuring justice.”
A spokesperson for the medical school told the Washington Examiner that it could not comment on pending litigation, but said it “is committed to fair processes in all of our programs and activities, including admissions, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws.”
The school has said its undergraduate application process collects data on race and ethnicity “for statistical purposes only, and they are not used for admission.”
The government’s new complaint alleges otherwise, citing admissions data showing the school has favored black and Hispanic applicants over white and Asian students.
“According to data reviewed by the United States, UCLA Med’s class incoming in 2024 has median MCAT scores of 508 for Black, 506 for Hispanic, 515 for Asian, and 513 for White matriculants. These correspond to percentile rankings of 75, 66, 90, and 86, respectively,” the court filing says.
UCLA has long faced scrutiny from the Trump administration over concerns it has violated civil rights laws. Throughout 2025, allegations that the school engaged in racial discrimination contributed to the battle between the Trump administration and the University of California system over roughly $584 million in federal funding. No resolution has been found, though the White House has offered the school a $1.2 billion deal to end the stalemate.
The underlying lawsuit against UCLA that the DOJ sought to join on Wednesday was brought by several groups, including Students for Fair Admissions and Do No Harm.
Do No Harm Executive Director Kristina Rasmussen praised the DOJ for joining the lawsuit in a statement.
“The United States was right in its move to join this case, which is of great public importance. We look forward to the Justice Department’s additional efforts here to get to the bottom of what appears to be an effort by UCLA to continue a race-based medical school admissions process in contravention of the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions,” she said.
