Federal civil rights complaint filed against UC Berkeley, alleging 'illegal' racial discrimination.

A federal civil rights complaint has been filed against the University of California, Berkeley, accusing it of discriminating against students based on their race and national origin.

On Tuesday, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Haas School of Business, accusing the institution of discriminating against certain students based on their race and ethnicity by excluding them from the MBA preparatory program, in violation of Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause.

William A. Jacobson, a Cornell Law professor, founded the EPP to ensure equal treatment for all individuals regardless of race or ethnicity. However, he believes that Berkeley is treating non-Hispanic students unfairly. According to a complaint obtained by Planet Chronicle Digital, the Haas Thrive Fellows program aims to educate, prepare, and motivate Latinx/Hispanic individuals to apply and succeed at top business schools.

The Haas Thrive Fellows program openly discriminates against students based on their race and national origin. The program is advertised as being intended for 'Latinx/Hispanic' students, creating a barrier that would discourage other students from applying. Regardless of the program's intentions, discrimination is unacceptable and illegal, as Jacobson stated in an interview with Planet Chronicle Digital.

"Haas knows better than to run a program that discriminates against students based on race and ethnicity, as the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admission made it clear that such discrimination is not legal."

Berkeley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jacobson believes that the "harm from racial and ethnic educational barriers is that it racializes not just the specific program, but the entire campus." He stated that non-discrimination standards, which have been adopted by University of California institutions, should be applied to the Haas School of Business.

Jacobson stated that the university's policy rejects discrimination at every level. UC-Berkeley and Haas should adhere to their own set of rules. Sending a message to students that access to opportunities is dependent on race and ethnicity is damaging to the fabric of campus.

"The Equal Protection Project urges UC and UC-Berkeley leadership to ensure that nondiscrimination standards are maintained throughout the university system, as Haas must develop a remedial plan to compensate students who were excluded from an educational opportunity due to race or ethnicity, according to Jacobson."

The EPP believes that there is no acceptable form of racism and that the solution to racism is not more racism, as stated on its website.

Jacobson stated that colleges and universities should adopt the approach of EqualProtect.org, which holds that there is no good form of racism and the solution to racism is not more racism.