EDITORS' CORNER
School uses race proxies in admissions, investigation concludes
The University of California, Davis School of Medicine has been violating federal law by discriminating on the basis of race in admissions, a U.S. Department of Justice investigation concluded this week.
School administrators “openly boasted about ‘skirting’ the Supreme Court’s” decision to ban affirmative action in admissions, according to a Wednesday news release from the department.
The school employs socioeconomic factors as stand-ins for race in its admissions process.
“To admit more so-called ‘underrepresented minorities,’ Davis Med created the ‘Davis Scale,’ which ranks an applicant based upon perceived ‘disadvantages’ while strategically adjusting the impact of his or her GPA and MCAT scores,” the release states.
As a result, Davis Med ranked as the “third most racially diverse medical school” in the nation in 2024, surpassed only by historically black universities.
Further, 93 percent of admitted white and certain Asian applicants scored as well as or better than admitted black applicants on the MCAT.
Despite consistently scoring lower on average academically, black and Hispanic applicants gained admission at rates as much as six times greater than white and Asian applicants.
“Davis Med’s actions reflect both unabashed contempt for the rule of law and plain disregard for the potential public health consequences of putting race over merit, skill, and competence,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said. “The Department will not allow schools to violate federal law without consequence.”
The Justice Department also recently found that the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles and Yale University both engage in racial discrimination in their admissions process.
At both schools, “Black and Hispanic students have a much higher chance of admission to Yale than White or Asian students with the same test scores,” the department stated.
The department also recently announced 15 new investigations into potential race-based admissions at other medical schools. It did not specify which schools it is probing.
Arizona State University is also facing a federal investigation into diversity, equity, and inclusion practices following the release of several undercover videos, The College Fix reported.
The viral videos indicate that “ASU denied equal treatment to students based on race, color, or national origin,” the Justice Department announced in a news release.
MORE: CUNY’s ‘Black Male Initiative’ faces Justice Department probe over racial discrimination
