Trump administration alleges UC Berkeley Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants

The U.S. Justice and Education Departments concluded on September 9, 2026, that the UC Berkeley School of Law intentionally discriminated against white and Asian applicants in 2024 and 2025. Federal investigators, led by Harmeet Dhillon, alleged the school used essay prompts as racial proxies to circumvent the Supreme Court's 2023 ban on affirmative action. Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and university officials strongly denied the claims, asserting strict compliance with California's Proposition 209.

DOJ Berkeley Law discrimination findings

• ▪As of October 2025, Berkeley Law's enrollment data showed 1,128 total students, consisting of 516 white, 293 Asian, 130 Hispanic, and 51 Black students
• ▪According to the Justice Department's findings, Black applicants to Berkeley Law had 6.5 times greater odds of admission in 2024 and 5.8 times greater odds in 2025 than comparable white applicants
• ▪The Justice Department is seeking a voluntary resolution agreement with UC Berkeley to bring its law school admissions and oversight practices into compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• ▪The U.S. Justice Department and Education Department concluded on September 9, 2026, that the University of California, Berkeley School of Law intentionally discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its 2024 and 2025 admissions
• ▪The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, led by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, sent a six-page letter on September 9, 2026, to Berkeley Law's attorney Tania Faransso detailing the discrimination findings
• ▪The Justice Department found that the median LSAT score for admitted Black students at Berkeley Law was 8 points lower in 2024 and 5 points lower in 2025 than the median for admitted white and Asian students

Dean Chemerinsky post-SFFA comments

• ▪The Justice Department cited a video where Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discussed "unstated affirmative action" in faculty hiring and advised an audience not to articulate considering diversity because their discussions were not privileged
• ▪The Justice Department's letter cited public comments by Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky suggesting methods to preserve racial diversity, such as replacing the explicit use of race with proxies for race

Admissions essay prompts scrutiny

• ▪The Justice Department accused Berkeley Law of using essay prompts that asked prospective students how their perspective, experience, and voice would contribute to diversity, specifically telling them they could discuss race or ethnicity
• ▪The joint federal investigation concluded that Berkeley Law used essay prompts and other tactics to group applicants by identity and circumvent the ban on race-conscious admissions

University compliance defense claims

• ▪Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky rejected the allegations, stating that the law school's admissions policy scrupulously complies with Proposition 209, federal statutes, and the U.S. Constitution, and does not consider race in any way
• ▪UC Berkeley's central administration defended its practices, stating that the university has scrupulously abided by California's Proposition 209 since its passage in 1996 and will provide evidence showing compliance with all relevant laws

Supreme Court affirmative action ruling

• ▪The joint federal investigation into Berkeley Law was launched in March 2025, following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down race-conscious college admissions
• ▪The Trump administration's action against Berkeley Law is part of a broader federal crackdown on university diversity initiatives, which included a similar August 2026 accusation against the Duke University School of Law