Case cites a letter that was leaked and called for “representation from those who identify as BIPOC and LGBTQ+.”
The University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine is facing a federal complaint over race-based bias in its admissions procedure, which the accused trust may serve as a warning to others.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard may be challenged in this petition, according to Edward Blum, chairman of Individuals for Fair Admissions, in a new email to The College Fix.
One of the plaintiffs is Blum’s organization, alleging that white and Asian students are discriminated against at the public school and its clinical school.
The other two candidates are Kelly Mahoney, a pupil whose software was turned down despite receiving a score in the 96th score on the MCAT, and Do No Harm Medicine, a nonprofit that fights identity politics in health maintenance. According to the complaint, she is a light woman.
The lawsuit, which was first reported at the Washington Free Beacon, addresses issues raised by reporters about the admissions council and Dean of Admissions Jennifer Lucero.
According to the allegations,” they report that Geffen requires applicants to submit responses that are intended to help the Committee to learn the individual’s race, which the physician school after confirms via interviews,” under the guise of a “holistic” review.
The complaint also cites a March-launched U.S. Department of Health and Human Services investigation to determine whether the medical school “gives candidates unlawful choice based on applicants ‘ race, color, or national origin.”
A UCLA spokesperson told The Fix that the medical college adheres to non-discrimination rules when contacted about the complaint.
The physician school’s media relations department told The Fix in an emailed statement on Tuesday that “UCLA’s medical college is committed to good techniques in all of our programs and activities, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws.”
The medical college’s” Diversity Statement” states that” the fundamental principles of diversity and inclusion are inseparable from our administrative objectives,” and that the institution is” committed to recruiting and retaining excellent students, residents, colleagues, staff, and faculty from various background.”
The lawsuit also alleges that college officials continue to discriminate.
It cites a leaked letter that lists” Guiding Principles for Student Representation” on the UCLA School of Medicine Admissions Committee among other documents.
The letter states that council leaders must maintain “representation from those who identify as BIPOC and LGBTQ+,” as The Fix reported earlier this month.
According to the lawsuit, Lucero, who took over as dean of admissions in 2020, is credited with leading the race-based enrollment techniques.
According to the lawsuit, she is” an outspoken advocate for using race to create admissions and hiring choices in medical schools and institutions.”
” Lucero and her handpicked committee members frequently and openly discuss race ( and racial proxies ) and use race as a factor in admissions decisions. Despite having reduced GPAs and MCAT results, Luciero chastises and denigrates committee people who raise questions about accepting minority students because of their culture. Race is frequently a factor in making admission decisions at UCLA Medical School, above GPA and MCAT scores.
In a 2024 Free Beacon report, whistleblowers claimed that Lucero stressed the need for diversity at a 2021 admissions committee meeting while standing up for the school’s admissions strategy.
According to two people who were present at the meeting,” The candidate’s scores shouldn’t matter, because we need people like this in the medical school.”
According to reports, Lucero cited the high mortality rates among African American women as a justification for hiring black applicants, saying” we need people like this in the medical school.”
Additionally, the lawsuit cites admission data from 2020 to 2023, which indicate that the majority of applicants are white and Asian ( 73 % ). However, over the same period,” the percentage of matriculants to Geffen who are white and Asian plummeted: 65.7 % in 2020, 57.1 % in 2021, 57.8 % in 2022, and 53.7 % in 2023″.
UCLA’s medical school has an acceptance rate of 1.56 percent, according to Compare Medical Schools, a website that monitors medical school admissions data.
The typical admitted student for the 2025 admissions cycle had a GPA of 3.85 and an MCAT score of 515, which is close to the national average for U.S. medical schools.
According to the lawsuit, “in this race-based system, all applicants are denied their right to equal treatment and the opportunity to pursue their lifelong dream of becoming a doctor because of utterly arbitrary criteria.”
The lawsuit contends that the school’s statistics, the guiding principles document, and Lucero’s reported commentary on diversity show that the school is unlawfully discriminating against students based on their race.
According to the lawsuit,” Lucero and the Admissions Committee routinely accept black applicants with GPA and MCAT scores that are significantly below average while requiring white applicants and Asian applicants to have near-perfect scores even to be seriously considered.”
MORE: Employing more “faculty and staff of color” is one of the priorities at U. Rhode Island.
A medical school class meets in terms of IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT. Canva/FatCamera Pro
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