Dear Supporters,
We have major news to share in the fight for colorblind equality. A Department of Justice investigation has determined that the UCLA School of Medicine has been illegally using race as a factor in its admissions process.
This finding serves as a powerful reminder: This investigation—and the legal accountability we are seeing today—would never have been possible without the Center for Equal Opportunity’s relentless efforts over more than 30 years.
Establishing the Intellectual and Legal Framework for Colorblind Equal Opportunity
The current accountability at UCLA is the direct result of a strategic foundation that CEO has spent three decades building. Since our founding, we have provided the essential evidence and legal theories necessary to dismantle the status quo of racial preferences.
Pioneering Research: CEO was the first organization to commission and publish groundbreaking studies of racial preferences in admissions at more than 80 schools. These landmark reports moved the national conversation beyond anecdotes, providing the hard data that proved elite institutions were operating discriminatory, dual-track systems.
A Multi-Front Strategy for Colorblind Justice: Our involvement in the historic Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard and UNC victory and its subsequent enforcement was a culmination of years of work on this issue. CEO has been a constant presence at every level.
Direct Evidence Through Targeted Studies: CEO played a critical role by commissioning and releasing extensive studies specifically analyzing admissions data at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. These reports documented the massive racial preferences in use, providing the empirical backbone that challenged the universities’ claims of “holistic” review.
Strategic Amicus Briefs: We submitted influential amicus briefs at every critical stage of the SFFA litigation. These filings provided the Supreme Court with the essential historical and legal roadmap to conclude that the “diversity” rationale had become a veil for prohibited discrimination.
Placement of Fellows in Enforcement Roles: Post-SFFA, CEO is ensuring the law is upheld by training the next generation of leaders. Our Civil Rights Fellowship alumni are now serving in high-level enforcement roles across the federal government—including recent appointments at the Department of Agriculture and other key agencies—where they work to ensure that civil rights laws are applied as written, without regard to race.
From the Courtroom to Enforcement
When the Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling in June 2023, CEO applauded the decision as the culmination of our long-term mission. However, a ruling is only as strong as its enforcement.
The investigation into UCLA proves that the SFFA decision has teeth. Because of the legal precedents CEO helped establish, the public scrutiny we have fostered, and the principled leaders we have helped place in government, institutions can no longer hide behind opaque admissions processes to practice illegal discrimination.
Our Unwavering Mission
From our early work supporting California’s Proposition 209 and timely studies supporting ballot initiatives banning preferences across several more states, to our current efforts training the next generation of civil rights enforcers, CEO has remained the consistent voice for true equality under the law. We have always maintained that the path to ending discrimination is to stop discriminating.
This progress is all thanks to you. Your steadfast support over three decades allowed us to document the research, build the right coalition, and maintain the pressure necessary to reach this turning point. As we move forward to ensure every medical school, law school, and university in the country follows the law, we do so with the momentum of thirty years of success behind us.
Thank you for standing with us.
Sincerely,
The CEO Team
