Trump administration announces yet another investigation into the UC system

San Francisco Chronicle​

a day ago

Once again, the Trump administration is targeting California's renowned higher-education system with an investigation — this time, into whether the University of California is considering the race and sex of applicants for teaching positions. It's the latest of a series of attacks on states' policies that hamper President Donald Trump's war on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Among other things, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that the university is ordering its campuses 'to hire 'diverse' faculty members to meet race- and sex-based employment quotas.'
'We have reason to believe the University of California's UC 2030 Capacity Plan precipitated unlawful action by the University,' Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department's chief civil rights lawyer, said in a letter to UC President Michael Drake. She was referring to the university's plan to add 23,000 students and 1,100 faculty members in the next five years.
But UC hasn't used hiring or enrollment quotas since 1978, when they were outlawed by the Supreme Court in the case of Allan Bakke, a white student who sued UC Davis medical school for denying him admission.
California voters banned affirmative action for racial minorities at public institutions in 1996, and the Supreme Court imposed the same ban for all schools and colleges in 2023. But in March, the Trump administration announced an investigation into whether UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine and Stanford University were complying with the court ruling.
Also in March, UC said it would halt policies at some of its 10 campuses that have required applicants for teaching positions to describe how they would promote diversity in race and other categories. EdSource reported that Drake told members of the UC Academic Council that the university 'needed to show signs it was listening to the Trump administration.'
In February, the Justice Department said it was investigating 'widespread antisemitic harassment' at UC Berkeley and four schools in other states, without providing specific details. In March, the department said it was expanding its investigation to cover all 10 UC campuses.
As for the investigation announced Thursday, its conclusion seems inevitable: The university will be found in violation of the law, as interpreted by the Trump administration, and face financial penalties that will most likely be contested in court.
That would be similar to the outcome of an investigation announced by the administration's Department of Education into California for allowing transgender girls to compete on girls' sports teams. After a brief inquiry, the department announced Wednesday that state schools and athletic officials had violated sex-discrimination laws and had 10 days to change their practices or face punishment.
The Department of Education has also announced an investigation into San Jose State University for allowing a transgender player on its women's volleyball team, after Trump claimed — falsely — to have seen the player injure an opponent with a spike shot that traveled 80 mph.
Federal education officials said in April that they would withdraw billions of dollars in funding for states whose schools had programs promoting racial and gender diversity, programs the administration describes as discriminatory. California and 18 other states have filed suit, saying the defunding would be both illegal and 'catastrophic.'
Later in April, the Department of Education announced an investigation into UC Berkeley for allegedly failing to disclose funding from a foreign government, citing what the department called 'credible news media reports.' The university has denied receiving any such funding but says it will cooperate with the investigation.
Thursday's announcement of an investigation into UC's hiring practices 'reads more as a policy announcement to further the federal government's reinterpretation of the Civil Rights Act to be inconsistent with minority protections and to require policies that favor privileged majorities,' said Ming Chen, a professor at UC College of the Law in San Francisco, where she directs its Race, Immigration, Citizenship and Equality Program.
Legal commentator Ian Millheiser said a likely goal of the Trump administration is to persuade the Supreme Court to prohibit 'diversity-based hiring in universities and trans participation in sports,' after the court's recent rulings against affirmative action and medical care for transgender youths. He said the Justice Department's 'internal procedures require them to start with an 'investigation' before they file a lawsuit.'
Catherine Fisk, a labor law professor at UC Berkeley, said it wasn't clear what evidence was the basis for the government's investigation.
'Under current law, employers are allowed to engage in outreach to ensure that they have a diverse pool' of applicants and consider them fairly, Fisk told the Chronicle. 'The law does not require complete blindness to race or gender. It just prohibits hiring based on race or gender.'
The more often universities are targeted, she said, 'the more they are forced to hire lawyers rather than providing scholarships for students or hiring faculty.'
In response to the announcement, UC spokesperson Rachel Zaentz said the university 'aims to foster a campus environment where everyone is welcomed and supported. We will work in good faith with the Department of Justice as it conducts its investigation.'
Asked about the purpose of the investigation, Justice Department spokesperson Pierson Furnish said, 'No comment.'