The UCLA medical school admissions lawsuit accuses the David Geffen School of Medicine of continuing to use race in admissions after the Supreme Court banned the practice in 2023. Filed in May 2025 and joined by the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2026, the case is active in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and on May 6, 2026, the DOJ separately announced a formal finding that UCLA violated federal anti-discrimination law.1New York Times. Justice Department UCLA Medical School Race Admissions
Who Sued and Who Is Named
The case is Do No Harm, Students for Fair Admissions, and Kelly Mahoney v. Regents of the University of California, et al., Case No. 2:25-cv-04131, filed May 8, 2025.2CourtListener. Do No Harm v. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Three plaintiffs brought it: Do No Harm, a conservative medical advocacy nonprofit; Students for Fair Admissions, the group behind the 2023 Supreme Court ruling; and Kelly Mahoney, a white applicant who says she was rejected because of her race.3Los Angeles Times. DOJ Lawsuit UCLA Medical School Race Admissions
After the parties agreed to dismiss dozens of individually named admissions committee members, the case now targets three defendants: the Regents of the University of California, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk, and Associate Dean of Admissions Jennifer Lucero.2CourtListener. Do No Harm v. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA The claims arise under the Equal Protection Clause, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.4Georgetown Law Litigation Tracker. Do No Harm et al. v. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA et al.
What the Plaintiffs Say UCLA Did
The lawsuit challenges the Geffen School’s “holistic review” admissions process. The plaintiffs argue that although UCLA publicly described its system as colorblind, it used holistic review as a mechanism for race-based decisions, gathering applicant race data and steering outcomes to produce classes that would, in the complaint’s phrasing, “look like America.”5U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Joins Lawsuit Against Racial Discrimination in Admissions at UCLA’s Medical School
A specific target is a secondary application question used in the 2024 and 2025 admissions cycles. It asked applicants whether they identified as part of a group that “has been marginalized (examples include, but are not limited to, LGBTQIA, disabilities, federally recognized tribe) in terms of access to education or healthcare,” with an 800-character follow-up for those who answered yes.6Student Doctor Network. 2024-2025 UCLA Geffen The DOJ contends the prompt worked as a proxy to identify race.7ABC7. UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine Illegally Used Race in Admissions, Department of Justice Says
Allegations Against the Admissions Dean
Jennifer Lucero, a clinical anesthesiology professor who has been Associate Dean of Admissions since June 2020, is central to the factual claims.8UCLA Profiles. Jennifer Lucero The lawsuit alleges she required applicants to supply information that let the committee determine their race, discussed race openly during committee deliberations, and oversaw a process that admitted Black applicants with below-average academic metrics while requiring near-perfect scores from white and Asian applicants.9The Columbian. Federal Lawsuit Alleges UCLA Medical School Uses a Race-Based Admissions Process
The DOJ’s intervenor complaint added that Lucero pressured committee members to admit racially preferred applicants with below-average scores, and in one meeting said that because “African-American women are dying at a higher rate,” the school needed “people like this.” When committee members raised concerns internally, the DOJ alleges, administrators shut down a review by the school’s Discrimination Prevention Office and refused to guarantee protection from retaliation for members who cooperated.10U.S. Department of Justice. Complaint in Intervention, Do No Harm v. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
The Numbers Behind the Claim
The DOJ’s complaint cited MCAT and GPA data for entering classes from 2021 through 2025. For the fall 2023 entering class, Black and Hispanic students’ median MCAT scores fell in the 68th percentile, while all other demographic groups scored at the 86th percentile or higher. In 2024, Black students scored at the 72nd percentile and Hispanic students at the 66th, while other groups again scored at or above the 86th percentile.11Inside Higher Ed. UCLA Med School Accused of Racial Discrimination Admitted Black students in 2024 had an average GPA of 3.72, compared with 3.84 for Asian American students and 3.83 for white students.7ABC7. UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine Illegally Used Race in Admissions, Department of Justice Says
The plaintiffs also point to a rapid demographic shift. Between 2019 and 2021, the share of white or Asian matriculants fell from 73% to 57%, while Black or Hispanic matriculants rose from 16% to 30%, even though the racial composition of the applicant pool stayed roughly constant.12Do No Harm. UCLA Medical School Admissions Demographics
Reporting during the same period raised concerns about academic performance. National failure rates on standardized clinical “shelf exams” run around 5%; in some UCLA cohorts, more than half of students in certain rotations failed them.13The Atlantic. UCLA Medical School DEI Nearly a quarter of the class of 2025 failed three or more shelf exams, and roughly 20% had not taken the Step 2 licensing exam by January of their fourth year.14Washington Free Beacon. A Failed Medical School: How Racial Preferences Supposedly Outlawed in California Have Persisted at UCLA Former dean Steven Dubinett disputed the picture, citing internal 2023–24 data showing 100% pass rates in several specialties and a 99% first-attempt pass rate on Step 2 in 2022–23.
The DOJ’s May 2026 Finding
Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed the Civil Rights Division in March 2025 to open compliance reviews at UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, and Stanford.15U.S. Department of Justice. Attorney General Pamela Bondi Launches Compliance Review Investigation Admissions Policies16Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Do No Harm v. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA10U.S. Department of Justice. Complaint in Intervention, Do No Harm v. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
On May 6, 2026, the DOJ announced the formal results of its yearlong review. The Civil Rights Division concluded UCLA’s medical school had intentionally discriminated against applicants on the basis of race, the first time the federal government had made such a finding against a medical school under the 2023 Supreme Court decision.1New York Times. Justice Department UCLA Medical School Race Admissions According to the DOJ, internal materials showed the school operated on the premise that patients receive better care from doctors of the same race, and that administrators shared “tips to achieve diversity goals and potential workarounds,” including the use of “racial proxies” within holistic review.11Inside Higher Ed. UCLA Med School Accused of Racial Discrimination
Dhillon said UCLA’s admissions had been “focused on racial demographics at the expense of merit and excellence.”17NBC Los Angeles. DOJ Alleges UCLA Medical School Used Race in Admissions Process The DOJ issued a seven-page finding letter and said it aimed to negotiate a voluntary resolution, without spelling out what steps compliance would require.11Inside Higher Ed. UCLA Med School Accused of Racial Discrimination Because the medical school receives substantial federal funding, the ultimate consequence of refusing to comply would be the loss of that funding.7ABC7. UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine Illegally Used Race in Admissions, Department of Justice Says
UCLA’s Response and Where the Case Stands
UCLA has denied the allegations throughout. A university spokesperson said admissions are “based on merit and grounded in a rigorous, comprehensive review of each applicant” and that the school remains “committed to complying with state and federal laws.”17NBC Los Angeles. DOJ Alleges UCLA Medical School Used Race in Admissions Process After the May 2026 finding, the university said it was “carefully reviewing the Department of Justice’s report.”18Fortune. DOJ Accuses UCLA of Discrimination
The school is represented by Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. On December 16, 2025, the court granted UCLA’s motions to dismiss in part and denied them in part, letting the case move forward on at least some claims. UCLA filed its answer on January 30, 2026, and answered the DOJ’s intervenor complaint on March 20, 2026. Briefing was ongoing as of April 2026, with no trial date set.4Georgetown Law Litigation Tracker. Do No Harm et al. v. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA et al.
Why California Makes This Case Unusual
California voters banned the use of race, ethnicity, or sex in public education, employment, and contracting when they passed Proposition 209 in 1996. The prohibition took effect for the 1998 entering class and immediately cut Black and Latino enrollment at UCLA and UC Berkeley by roughly 40%.19NPR. Here’s What Happened When Affirmative Action Ended at California Public Colleges20University of California Office of the President. Proposition 209 UCLA responded by expanding outreach, adopting holistic review in 2007, and dropping standardized test requirements in 2020.21UCLA Newsroom. How UCLA Has Responded to Proposition 209 The plaintiffs and DOJ argue that under cover of those facially neutral tools, the medical school did what state law had already prohibited for a quarter-century and what the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard then prohibited nationally.
That ruling left one narrow opening. Universities may still consider how race affected an individual applicant’s life if the discussion is “concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability” rather than used as a workaround for racial balancing.22Supreme Court of the United States. Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College The UCLA dispute turns on which side of that line the school’s practices fell on.
The Wider Federal Push
UCLA is one target in a broader federal enforcement campaign. Alongside the UCLA review, the DOJ opened admissions investigations at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC Irvine.15U.S. Department of Justice. Attorney General Pamela Bondi Launches Compliance Review Investigation Admissions Policies The Department of Education opened Title VI investigations into 52 institutions over race-related graduate program and scholarship practices, and the administration cut $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University in March 2025 and froze $9 billion to Harvard in April 2025.23Inside Higher Ed. Admissions Offices Brace for Federal Scrutiny
Dhillon has described her division’s approach as “impact litigation,” aimed at creating precedent that deters other schools. She has said her office also concluded that Yale Medical School discriminated against white and Asian applicants, claiming “an African American student is 27 times more likely to be invited for an interview at Yale with the same [MCAT] score as an Asian.”24The Dartmouth. Dhillon at Dartmouth Whatever the federal court decides about UCLA is likely to shape how medical schools nationwide interpret the boundary the Supreme Court drew in 2023.