PLF SEEKS DATA ON WHETHER UCLA OBEYS PROPOSITION 209

SACRAMENTO, CA; October 28, 2008: In an effort to determine whether UCLA is obeying the state Constitution’s ban on race- and sex-based discrimination and preferences in undergraduate admissions, Pacific Legal Foundation today submitted a California Public Records Act request for relevant documents from UCLA’s applications process.

“PLF has been contacted by a number of students, parents, and UC faculty who suspect that undergraduate admissions at UCLA are not race- and sex-neutral, as required by Proposition 209,” said PLF attorney Joshua Thompson.  “To investigate on behalf of these concerned Californians, and to promote transparency in the state’s public university system, PLF has asked for key documents from the admissions process, as the Public Records Act allows us to do.”

Voters enacted Proposition 209 (Article I, Section 31(a) of the California Constitution) in 1996.  It prohibits discrimination or preferences by race or sex in public schools, contracts, and employment.  PLF is the nation’s leading legal organization that litigates against discrimination and preferences by race and sex, and has been the primary enforcer of Proposition 209 in California courts.

Among the documents sought by PLF’s Public Records Act Request:

• Undergraduate applications, including essays – with all personal identifying information redacted – from applicants to the classes of 2005 through 2008.
  
  
• The identities of all applications readers, the scores they gave each application, and documents revealing why they decided to admit or reject each candidate.
  
  
• All handbooks and other documents designed to guide application readers.

“UCLA asks for personal essays, which by definition have to be graded somewhat subjectively,” said Thompson.  “We’re asking for these essays – and evidence of how they’re scored and weighted – to make sure that admissions officials aren’t using these subjective evaluations as a way to bias the process in violation of Proposition 209.”

PLF’s Public Records Act request may be found at PLF’s Web site.

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