The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights division announced Thursday, June 11, that the University of California, Davis School of Medicine (Davis Med) violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating on the basis of race in its admissions process. The determination follows a six-month investigation prompted by concerns over post-2023 affirmative action practices.
The findings center on Davis Med’s efforts to maintain racial diversity after the Supreme Court’s Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA) decision, which banned race-based admissions in higher education. The DOJ concluded that the school intentionally circumvented this ruling by using socioeconomic proxies for race.
The investigation reviewed documents, correspondence, and applicant-level data from 2019–2025 provided by the university. It revealed that Davis Med leadership openly discussed strategies to sustain racial balancing despite legal prohibitions.
Central to the allegations is the “Davis Scale,” a tool developed by Associate Dean of Admissions Dr. Mark Henderson. This continuous measure of socioeconomic disadvantage incorporates factors such as parental income and education, growing up in a medically underserved area, fee assistance, family assistance programs, and applicant contributions to family.
The scale is used to adjust the weight of GPA and MCAT scores accordingly.
In making the determination, the DOJ cited a number of internal statements and communications, including direct statements from Henderson. “I’d call it class-based affirmative action. Class struggles have a huge overlap with race that’s how we skirted the issue,” Henderson reportedly said.
In a 2023 article, he described how the school tripled enrollment of underrepresented minorities (URiM) by prioritizing “lived experience, and socioeconomic background.” The school promoted the Davis Scale to other institutions as a model to skirt the SFFA ruling nationwide.
Data analysis showed stark disparities, as black and Hispanic applicants were admitted at rates up to six times (or in some reports two to nine times) higher than white and Asian applicants, despite lower average academic qualifications. In 2024, Davis Med became the third most racially diverse medical school in the country, placing only behind historically black institutions.
For incoming classes from 2023–2025, 93% of white and certain Asian admittees had MCAT scores at or above the average Black admittee. White and Asian admits consistently showed higher average GPAs and MCAT scores, the DOJ outlined in a press release.
“Based on our review, the Department has found that Davis Med is violating Title VI by discriminating on the basis of race in its admissions process,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote in a detailed letter. “The Department finds that Davis Med discriminated against white and Asian applicants to Davis Med on the basis of race… For these reasons, the Department concludes that Davis Med discriminated on the basis of race in its admissions from 2023-2025, in violation of Title VI.”
The DOJ has indicated it will pursue voluntary settlement negotiations to bring Davis Med into compliance. This could involve revising admissions policies, eliminating the Davis Scale or similar proxies if deemed race-correlated, ensuring race-neutral evaluations, and potentially implementing monitoring or data reporting requirements.
