The U.S. Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into UC Berkeley’s handling of three student programs and two scholarships following a February complaint alleging discrimination based on race, color or national origin.
The Office for Civil Rights disclosed the investigation in a Nov. 3 letter obtained exclusively by the California Post. The department verified the letter and confirmed that it is examining whether the university violated federal civil rights law.
The inquiry follows a Feb. 10 complaint filed by the Legal Insurrection Foundation. The complaint challenges 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.
The filing contends that, even if the three student programs do not explicitly reject applicants from other backgrounds, their names and descriptions could discourage students outside the identified racial or ethnic groups from taking part.
It also alleges that the two scholarships use eligibility requirements that exclude applicants based on race, color or national origin.
“Not all cases get opened for investigation,” William A. Jacobson, president of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, told the Post. “So when we get a case opened for investigation, we interpret that as a sign that the department views the allegations as both factually and legally serious and worthy of investigation.”
Jacobson called the investigation an “extremely significant step” and argued that the way a program is promoted can itself be discriminatory.
“Even if you don’t physically turn people away because you have scared people away, you have signaled that you will be discriminating,” he said. “It is not a defense to an unlawful promotion of a program based on race or ethnicity to say, ‘Well, we did promote it that way, but we never physically turned anybody away.’”
UC Berkeley said in a statement that it “is fully committed to creating a learning environment that is free from all forms of discrimination.”
The university said the two scholarships under review are financed by outside sources rather than by the university or federal and state funds.
“For scholarships administered by UC Berkeley, award amounts are determined without regard to a student’s race, gender, or other identity characteristics,” the statement said.
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Jacobson disputed the university’s position that outside funding protects it from scrutiny.
“UC Berkeley as a public university is required to comply with the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, equal protection under the laws. It doesn’t matter where the money comes from,” he said. “The institution has to treat everybody equally without regard to race or ethnicity.”
“If it is run through university, if it’s facilitated by the university, if it’s promoted by the university, even if it’s from an outside organization, the university still needs to comply with Title VI, and it cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin,” he added.
The university also said that any student demonstrating financial need can qualify for its financial assistance, noting that roughly two-thirds of undergraduates receive aid. It said the student resource centers are open to all students and that UC Berkeley continues to meet its federal legal obligations in administering its scholarships and programs.
The letter, signed by OCR Chief Attorney Anamaria Loya, also cautions the university against retaliating against anyone who files a complaint or participates in the investigation.
California voters prohibited the use of race in public university admissions and hiring through Proposition 209 in 1996. The measure, now part of the state Constitution, bars public institutions from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to anyone based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, education or contracting.
Voters rejected an effort to repeal Proposition 209 through Proposition 16 in 2020.
The investigation at Berkeley is the latest federal action involving California’s public universities. In March 2025, the Trump administration opened investigations into admissions policies at Stanford and three University of California campuses: UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine.
“We do find California to be one of the leading offenders as a state,” Jacobson told The Post.
His organization has spearheaded challenges to race-based campus programs across the country, taking action against roughly 300 schools and persuading many to rename their programs.
“We almost never want the program shut down. We want the discrimination shut down. So these programs, if they provide valuable educational opportunities, that’s fine, but they have to be promoted and conducted consistent with the civil rights laws,” he said.