Trump administration investigates UC system over diversity hiring goals
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Justice Department opens probe into UC hiring under plan that included diversity aims.
- Trump appointee cites possible race and sex discrimination in UC practices.
- UC commits to legal compliance while defending inclusive campus goals.
The University of California will be investigated for possible civil rights violations in its hiring practices, the Trump administration said Thursday, the latest in the federal government’s efforts to unwind diversity programs it says discriminate against people who are white and male.
The investigation will focus on a 2022 report called “The UC 2030 Capacity Plan,” a blueprint for expanding undergraduate and graduate programs across the system’s 10 campuses which included a section on diversity in hiring, a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice to UC President Michael Drake said.
“We are writing to inform you that the Department of Justice is opening an investigation to determine whether the University of California, including the individual University of California campuses, is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race and sex,” the letter said. It was signed by Harmeet Dhillon, a conservative lawyer from California who is Trump’s appointee to run the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
The UC investigation comes on the heels of efforts by the administration to question admissions practices at 45 universities that had participated in a program aimed at increasing diversity among Ph.D. recipients. UC Berkeley, Cal Poly Humboldt and California State University, San Bernardino, were named in March among the campuses under investigation. The administration has also picked high-profile fights with elite private universities including Harvard and Columbia, accusing them of antisemitism related to protests against Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The 2030 plan, the letter alleged, led to illegal hiring practices. The 2030 report was issued before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions in 2023, a ruling that also had implications for hiring. The landmark Regents of the University of California v. Bakke decision in 1978 banned racial quotas in college admissions but allowed race to be a factor in meeting diversity goals, a ruling that also informed case law on hiring.
“Public employers are bound by federal laws that prohibit racial and other employment discrimination,” Dhillon said in a news release announcing the investigation. “Institutional directives that use race- and sex-based hiring practices expose employers to legal risk under federal law.”
The university said in an emailed statement that it would cooperate with the Justice Department’s 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,” the statement said. “The university also aims to foster a campus environment where everyone is welcomed and supported.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Trump administration investigates UC system over diversity hiring goals."
