Dr. Jennifer Lucero arrived at UCLA’s medical school as an expert on diversity, equity and inclusion after her time practicing woke medicine in San Francisco.
But now she’s coming into the Trump administration’s DEI crosshairs.
Federal prosecutors announced this week they’re seeking to join a lawsuit that accuses UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and Lucero of engaging in “racial balancing” and “intentional discrimination” in favor of black applicants over white and Asian students.
President Donald Trump speaks at the launch of a program called “Trump Accounts” at Carnegie Mellon Auditorium, Wednesday, Jan. 28. APUnder Lucero’s watch starting in 2020, UCLA allegedly overlooked lower test scores for black applicants by using a “holistic” approach that allowed candidates to introduce their race into test responses.
Lucero allegedly “handpicked” committee members in charge of admissions to prioritize race and “berates and belittles” those who raise concerns about admitting minority students despite low grade-point averages and test scores.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the Department of Justice’s intervention in the UCLA lawsuit and escalating war over racial bias in higher education an “effort to hold our universities accountable for unlawful policy — especially in the state of California.”
The lawsuit argues that UCLA’s “Anti-Racism Roadmap” has ironically rigged the scales to prevent applicants from competing on an equal footing. It also claims whistleblowers with first-hand knowledge of Lucero’s admissions practices have come forward with stunning allegations.
“They report that, under the guise of ‘holistic’ review, Geffen requires applicants to submit responses that are intended to allow the Committee to glean the applicant’s race, which the medical school later confirms via interviews,” the lawsuit claims.
Between 2020 and 2023, the racial composition of students admitted to UCLA’s medical school shifted sharply, according to the lawsuit. White and Asian applicants consistently made up about 73% of the applicant pool, yet their share of admission fell sharply from 65.7% to 53.7% over those four years. Meanwhile, black applicants made up between 7-8% of applicants during this time as they’re admission rates rose from 8% to 14.29%.
The DOJ’s petition to join the lawsuit comes after Kelly Mahoney, a white woman, claimed last spring that her application to UCLA’s medical school was rejected because of her race. Despite having a 3.8 grade-point average and an elite MCAT score of 519 — placing her in the 96th percentile of all test-takers — Mahoney was denied an interview for the 2024 academic cycle.
Joining that lawsuit were Do No Harm, a group opposing identity-based policies in medicine, and Students for Fair Admissions, which previously filed a case that led to the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that race cannot be a factor in admissions.
“Even after the Supreme Court banned race-balancing, the Geffen School kept discriminating by using illegal DEI preferences in admissions,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who heads up the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
According to court filings, UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine engages in “illegal racial discrimination has harmed and is continuing to harm applicants.”
The Justice Department claims UCLA Med “violates the U.S. Constitution” and “stigmatizes minority applicants as less qualified” than their white and Asian counterparts. APA spokesperson for UCLA’s medical school declined comment on the litigation but defended the school’s practices.
“UCLA’s medical school is committed to fair processes in all of our programs and activities, including admissions, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws,” the spokesperson said.
Kristina Rasmussen, executive director of Do No Harm, which focuses on getting identity politics out of the study and practice of medicine, said she is “grateful” the Trump administration intends to join the lawsuit.
“A common uniting factor among everyone is that when we walk into the doctor’s office, we want a fantastic doctor — merit is all that should matter,” Rasmussen said, adding that she hopes the federal government looks at potentially cutting public funding for UCLA.
“Taxpayer dollars should not be going to underwrite illegal and immoral behavior,” she said.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose office is joining the legal fight, said the laws on discrimination are clear.
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“As a state where so many of its leaders pride themselves on being on the ‘right side of history,’ California can and must do better,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.
The Trump administration’s motion is set to be heard Feb. 27 at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Riverside.
