UC Berkeley Faces Federal Civil Rights Investigation Over Race-Based Scholarships and Student Centers
BERKELEY, California — The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation into the University of California, Berkeley, over three student programs and two scholarships, after a February complaint alleged discrimination based on race, color or national origin.
The investigation was disclosed in a November 3 letter from the department's Office for Civil Rights, obtained exclusively by the California Post. The department verified the letter and confirmed it is investigating the university for alleged violations of federal civil rights law. The letter, signed by OCR Chief Attorney Anamaria Loya, also warns the university against retaliating against anyone who files a complaint or participates in the investigation.
The probe stems from a complaint filed February 10 by the Legal Insurrection Foundation, which targets the African American Student Development Office, the Black Resource Center, the Latinx Student Resource Center, the African American Initiative Scholarship and the Lloyd A. Edwards Scholarship.
California voters banned the use of race in public university admissions and hiring with Proposition 209 in 1996. The Berkeley probe is the latest federal action against California's public universities. In March 2025, the Trump administration opened investigations into admissions policies at Stanford and three UC campuses, including UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加州大学伯克利分校萨瑟门。Wikimedia Commons，CC0。 / Photo: Sather Gate at UC Berkeley. Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
