You may have been seeing the University of California (UC) in the news a lot lately. The scandalous report on UC San Diego freshmen’s disastrous math skills – with one in 12 being placed below a middle school level in spite of inflated high school GPA, reveals at least two troubling problems:

1. The war on merit, starting with UC’s decision to abolish standardized testing in 2020, is bearing its ugly fruits.

2. UC’s unfair, race-based admission practices have resulted in a generation of students painfully unprepared for rigorous college coursework, while stripping away opportunities for more academically inclined students on the basis of race.

Some are calling UC to reinstate SAT and ACT, as CFER has advocated for in the past five years. But it takes more than media headlines and public outcry to hold one of the world’s largest public higher education systems accountable. Especially, when the decisionmakers insulate themselves from external pressure to coddle ideological obsessions with race-centric thinking, legal actions are our last line of defense.

Luckily, three lawsuits have been filed against UC this year, with the first being one launched by Students Against Racial Discrimination (SARD), which alleges racial discrimination in UC’s undergraduate admissions. Since last year, SARD has worked diligently to build an effective case against UC (see CFER’s previous alert for SARD). With the help of pro bono legal experts, including UCLA Law Professor and CFER advisor Richard Sander, the case is making progress in the court system: a trial has been scheduled and the discovery process has been directed to proceed.

As the case enters its second year, SARD is in need of an ongoing stream of high school students who plan to apply to UC, as existing participants "age out." If you are a high school student, or the parent of a student, who is concerned about UC admissions, I want to encourage you to contact SARD directly to discuss the possibility of your joining the suit. There is no cost, and SARD vigorously protects your anonymity.

For years, UC has circumvented California’s constitutional guarantee of equal protection. Through racial-balancing practices, attempts to water down standards by phasing out SAT/ACT and the employment of various race proxies, the system has curated so-called racial diversity at the expenses of excellence and fairness. We implore you to join SARD, CFER and other concerned parties in prompting necessary changes in UC.

You can contact Professor Richard Sander directly at sander@law.ucla.edu. Alternatively, you can also reply to info@cferfoundation.org to let CFER know your interest in participating anonymously.

Many thanks!