*The University of California, Berkeley is facing a federal civil rights complaint, filed by the Equal Protection Project (EPP), for allegedly discriminating based on race and national origin.
The complaint claims that Berkeley’s Haas School of Business excluded certain students from an MBA preparatory program due to their race and ethnicity, violating Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause. William A. Jacobson, a Cornell Law professor and founder of the EPP, argues the program is unfair to non-Hispanic students, as the Haas Thrive Fellows initiative is specifically aimed at supporting Latinx/Hispanic individuals, Fox News Digital reports.
Jacobson believes that “racial and ethnic” barriers in educational programs impact more than just those initiatives, as they contribute to racializing the entire campus environment.
“The Haas Thrive Fellows program openly discriminates on the basis of race and national origin. Haas clearly tells students the program is intended for ‘Latinx/Hispanic’ students, setting up a barrier that would deter other students from applying. Regardless of the purpose of the discrimination, it is wrong and unlawful,” Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
“After the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admission, it is clear that discriminating on the basis of race to achieve diversity is not lawful,” he continued. “Haas knows better than to run a program that excludes and discriminates against students based on race and ethnicity.”
Jacobson noted that the university “rejects discrimination” at every level.
“UC-Berkeley and Haas should live up 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,” he said, noting that “Haas needs to come up with a remedial plan to compensate students shut out of this educational opportunity due to race or ethnicity.”
Jacobson is calling on the university’s leadership “to make sure nondiscrimination standards are upheld throughout the university system.”
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