By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The University of California, San Francisco, said on Tuesday it disagreed with the US Department of Justice's findings from a federal probe that alleged the institution's medical school favored Black and Hispanic applicants in admissions and discriminated against white and Asian applicants.
The DOJ alleged that from 2023 to 2025, the UCSF School of Medicine "admitted Black and Hispanic applicants who academically underperformed the average rejected
white and Asian student."
The department alleged the school relied on "vague diversity goals with no meaningful endpoint," marking the latest targeting of diversity initiatives in universities by President Donald Trump's administration.
The DOJ wrote a letter to the school on Tuesday, saying it sought a voluntary compliance agreement while urging the school to contact the DOJ by October 2. If those efforts fail, the DOJ said it will file suit.
"UC San Francisco disagrees with the Department of Justice's finding regarding the School of Medicine's admissions process," the university said late on Tuesday.
It said that every applicant to its medical school is evaluated "through a rigorous, individualized review process that prioritizes academic excellence."
The university said it would continue to engage "constructively" with the DOJ and looked forward to resolving the matter.
Trump, who has cast diversity goals as anti-merit and discriminatory against white people and men, has signed orders to dismantle them. Civil rights advocates say diversity practices address historic inequities for marginalized groups like ethnic minorities, the LGBT community and women.
The US Supreme Court rejected affirmative action at colleges in 2023 when it struck down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
Trump has targeted universities with probes and funding-suspension threats over pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel's assault on Gaza, diversity initiatives, transgender policies and climate programs, leading to free speech, due process and academic freedom concerns.
His administration has also targeted various other schools over their admissions practices.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
