Latest news with #2030CapacityPlan
Straits Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
US Justice Department opens inquiry into University of California hiring practices
The University of California plans to build a university system that more closely reflects the state's racial and ethnic diversity. PHOTO: ALISHA JUCEVIC/NYTIMES WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on June 26 targeted California's education system for the second time in two days, announcing a new Justice Department investigation into whether a plan to build a university system that more closely reflects the state's racial and ethnic diversity violates civil rights laws against discrimination. The investigation was made public just 24 hours after the US Education Department declared that California was breaking federal law by allowing transgender girls to compete on female sports teams. The federal government gave the state 10 days to reverse its policies or face 'imminent enforcement action'. On June 26, the Justice Department's top civil rights attorney Harmeet Dhillon said in a letter to Michael V. Drake, president of the University of California system, that she was focused on the 'University of California 2030 Capacity Plan,' which she said might discriminate against some employees, job applicants and training programme participants. The government's news release about the inquiry said that the university plan required campuses to meet quotas for race- and sex-based employment. The 44-page plan is a three-year-old planning document aimed at expanding enrolment in the University of California system while also 'reflecting California's diversity'. It makes no specific mention of quotas, but does note that future growth of faculty and students should result in campus populations that 'better reflect and tap the talent of underrepresented populations who represent the majority of Californians'. The plan offers parameters on how to achieve that while also meeting Governor Gavin Newsom's goal of 70 per cent of working-age Californians earning post-secondary degrees or certificates by 2030. One goal includes ramping up recruitment efforts so that, by 2030, more than 40 per cent of the University of California system's doctoral students would come from University of California and California State University undergraduate campuses that are diverse enough that the federal government has designated them as 'minority-serving institutions'. Graduates from historically Black colleges and universities and tribal colleges and universities would also count toward that 40 per cent goal. 'We recognise the demand for a UC education is great,' Dr Drake and the university system's 10 chancellors wrote in the introduction of the plan. 'And we know the university needs to tap the talent of students across our state, increasing educational attainment levels and economic opportunities for Californians who have not had the same access to our university in the past.' Ms Rachel Zaentz, a spokesperson for the University of California, said the school would 'work in good faith' with Justice Department investigators. 'The University of California is committed to fair and lawful processes in all of our programmes and activities, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws,' Ms Zaentz said. Since President Donald Trump took office, California has had to contend with multiple threats from his administration to withhold federal funding. The federal targeting of the state education systems also comes as the administration ramps up efforts to realign the political balance of higher education, which the administration views as hostile to conservatives. It has opened investigations into civil rights, foreign funding and other issues at Columbia University, Harvard University and other elite colleges. The Justice Department said in March that it was investigating whether several California universities were complying with the Supreme Court's 2023 decision banning the consideration of race in admissions. That investigation targeted Stanford University but also three schools in the University of California system – Berkeley, Los Angeles and Irvine. California public colleges and universities have been prohibited by state law from using affirmative action in college admissions since 1996. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
UC sees the good in faculty diversity. Trump's DOJ says it 'may be' illegal discrimination
The Trump administration said Thursday that it is opening an investigation into UC, alleging that university goals to increase faculty diversity "may be" illegal sex- and race-based hiring discrimination. In a brief, 419-word letter to UC President Michael V. Drake, the Justice Department's top civil rights lawyer said it had "reasonable cause" to believe that UC has "certain employment practices that discriminate against employees, job applicants, and training program participants based on race and sex." The letter pointed to an ambitious UC plan to add at least 20,000 students by 2030 — while increasing graduation rates, the share of students who receive undergraduate diplomas within four years, and access to UC campuses for racial minorities and other minority groups that have historically been underrepresented in higher education. UC announced the plan in 2021 and later increased the enrollment goal to up to 33,000 if enough resources, such as funding, became available. Read more: California violated civil rights of female students by allowing trans athletes to compete, feds say The Justice Department appeared to zero in on small sections of the extensive "UC 2030 Capacity Plan" that chart out desires to increase diversity among graduate students and faculty, including adding 1,100 tenure-track faculty. Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, wrote that the plan may have "precipitated unlawful action by the University of California and some or all its constituent campuses." In a statement, the Justice Department added that UC "directs its campuses to hire 'diverse' faculty members to meet race- and sex-based employment quotas," alleging a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Dhillon added: "It is important to note that we have not reached any conclusions about the subject matter." Although the UC goals make clear the university's ambition to increase diversity, they do not stipulate hiring quotas. Since 2020, UC Regents — the governor-appointed board of directors — have also formally banned using quotas based on race and gender. That move came as Californians debated Proposition 16, which would have reversed the state's affirmative action prohibition but failed to pass. In a statement Thursday, a UC spokesperson said the university abides by the law and would cooperate with the investigation. "The University of California is committed to fair and lawful processes in all of our programs and activities, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws," said Senior Director of Strategic and Critical Communications Rachel Zaentz. "The university also aims to foster a campus environment where everyone is welcomed and supported," she said. "We will work in good faith with the Department of Justice as it conducts its investigation." Read more: UC Berkeley law professors take on a case for colleagues: Fighting Trump research cuts The investigation is the second UC hiring probe launched by the Trump administration, part of its aggressive drive to take action against universities it alleges are giving preference to Black, Latino and other racial, ethnic or religious groups over Asian, white and Jewish students, staff and employees. Trump has also ordered an end to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in education institutions that receive federal funds, resulting in court challenges. In March, the Justice Department launched an investigation into whether UC 'engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, religion and national origin against its professors, staff and other employees by allowing an antisemitic hostile work environment to exist on its campuses." It was based upon faculty petitions and complaints that accused the university of abetting alleged antisemitism last year during pro-Palestinian encampments calling on UC to divest from financial ties to Israel's war in Gaza. Both investigations employ a "pattern or practice" probe of campuses based on federal anti-discrimination law, a method of civil rights enforcement used during Democratic administrations to respond to racism allegations against police departments. Also in March, the Justice Department accused UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine of using "illegal DEI" in admissions, likely referring to affirmative action. The Department of Health and Human Services is also investigating UCLA's medical school over alleged discrimination in admissions. The university has denied such actions. Zaentz has said UC stopped using race in admissions when Proposition 209 — which bans consideration of race in public education, hiring and contracting — went into effect in 1997. Since then, 'UC has implemented admissions practices to comply with the law,' she said in March. Two UC campuses — Los Angeles and Berkeley — are on a list of 10 campuses that a federal task force to combat antisemitism has said it is researching. The task force has played a significant role in pulling billions in federal funding from Harvard and Columbia universities over allegations that they promoted antisemitism. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Trump's DOJ probing racial and sex-based discrimination in hiring at University of California school system
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department launched an investigation Thursday into the University of California system to determine if it ran afoul of federal law by engaging in racial or sex-based discrimination when hiring faculty. President Trump's DOJ said that it was taking particular issue with the 'UC 2030 Capacity Plan,' which seeks to 'diversify its faculty,' specifically identifying 'underrepresented minorities' and 'female faculty' as two areas of special emphasis. The 10-campus UC system, which takes more than $17 billion in federal funding, launched the program in 2022 as part of its efforts to increase racial and gender diversity on campus. Included in the UC 2030 Capacity Plan's roadmap to 'grow and diversify its faculty' are two programs designed to expedite the entry of women and minorities into the faculty: the UC President's Pre-Professoriate Fellowship Program and the UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship. 4 President Trump's DOJ said that it was taking particular issue with the 'UC 2030 Capacity Plan,' which seeks to 'diversify its faculty,' specifically identifying 'underrepresented minorities' and 'female faculty' as two areas of special emphasis. AFP via Getty Images According to the Pre-Professoriate Fellowship's info page, the program 'aims to enhance faculty diversity and pathways to the professoriate for historically underrepresented students from California Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).' The webpage also specifies the demographic groups the fellowship 'particularly' seeks to aid, listing the following categories: 'Chicanx/Latinx, African Americans, American Indians/Native Americans, Filipinx, and Pacific Islanders in all disciplines; women in STEM; and Asian Americans in the humanities and social sciences.' Recipients of the fellowship are allotted a $37,000 stipend, California resident tuition and fees, and a $10,000 'professional development grant.' 4 The 10-campus UC system, which takes more than $17 billion in federal funding, launched the program in 2022 as part of its efforts to increase racial and gender diversity on campus. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The goal of the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship, per its website, is 'to provide research opportunity and career development for scholars whose work will enhance the diversity of the academic community at the University of California,' specifically women and minorities. The Trump administration, without immediately disclosing any incriminating information, implied the larger Capacity Plan, which includes the fellowship programs, was violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The postdoctoral program also creates a 'massive incentive' to hire recipients of the fellowship, including when departments are already overstaffed, a UCLA professor who wished to remain anonymous revealed to The Post. 4 Trump's DOJ, without immediately disclosing any incriminating information, implied the larger Capacity Plan comprised of the fellowship programs, was violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Getty Images 'You have units that are hiring people who they wouldn't otherwise hire, because they basically get them for free,' said the professor. According to the UCLA faculty member, when the fellowship was first created, there were many 'conventional, completely rigorous, completely scholarly' fellowship participants engaged with the program. Over the years, however, the professor began to notice that the number of 'good scholars' coming through the fellowship was dwindling. 4 The University of California, Berkeley, was also hit with a DOE investigation in April for allegedly failing to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign funding from China, Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced. Bloomberg via Getty Images 'I've also seen some f–king crazy people come through the Presidential Post-Doc, and it's increasingly a program, not just for the focus on diverse populations, but for CRT [critical race theory] psychos,' the professor added. Another factor that could be under consideration by the DOJ is that some UC campuses are designated as 'Hispanic Serving Institutions,' which the UCLA professor said entails many 'cluster hires specifically for Latino faculty,' among other things. The UC system said in a statement it was 'committed to fair and lawful processes in all of our programs and activities, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws. The University also 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.' The investigation is only the latest Trump admin probe to target US higher education institutions, with DOJ and Department of Education probes of antisemitic discrimination within the UC system, at Columbia University and other schools still ongoing. The University of California, Berkeley, was also hit with an ED investigation in April for allegedly failing to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign funding from China, which may lead to subsequent 'enforcement' actions, according to Education Secretary Linda McMahon. Trump's administration has also yanked federal funds from Columbia and other schools for failing to address anti-semitism on campus. Separately, the UC system was slammed with a lawsuit earlier this year by the group Students Against Racial Discrimination, which accused the California schools of secretly continuing race-conscious admissions despite the practice's illegality.
