The University of California is now under a federal microscope over its employment practices.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is examining the system and its component campuses over concerns of “potential race- and sex-based discrimination in university employment practices,” according to a Department of Justice news release.
The release cites the University of California’s “UC 2030 Capacity Plan” as potentially violating federal law.
“The Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section will investigate whether the University of California is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, sex, and other protected characteristics, pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the release said.
“Public employers are bound by federal laws that prohibit racial and other employment discrimination,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.
“Institutional directives that use race- and sex-based hiring practices expose employers to legal risk under federal law,” she said.
The department said California’s own emphasis on diversity triggered the investigation.
“Our investigation is based on information suggesting that the University of California may be engaged in certain employment practices that discriminate against employees, job applicants, and training program participants based on race and sex in violation of Title VII,” the department’s letter to university President Michael Drake said.
“Specifically, we have reason to believe the University of California’s ‘UC 2030 Capacity Plan’ precipitated unlawful action by the University of California and some or all its constituent campuses,” Dhillon wrote.
Do you think diversity for diversity’s sake is a good thing?
“Accordingly, I have authorized a full investigation to determine whether the University of California is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above,” she wrote.
The plan noted, for example, that the colleges were expected to increase faculty diversity.
The plan also said that the university system had a goal of making 40 percent of its PhDs, who are hired as researchers, from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities as well as California colleges by 2030.
The investigation comes shortly after the Education Department found the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation in violation of Title IX by discriminating against women.
“Although Governor Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was ‘deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said.
🚨The U.S. Dept. of Education has found California in violation of Title IX for letting males compete in girls’ sports.
CDE & CIF must restore records, titles & awards to female athletes AND send apology letters to every girl robbed by this discrimination.
This is fantastic. pic.twitter.com/lrYiSF0f4q
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 25, 2025
“The Trump Administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law. The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow,” she said.
The state was given 10 days to adopt rule changes or face possible Department of Justice prosecution.
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