For Immediate Release

March 15, 2021

SAN DIEGO, CA -- March 15, 2021- Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) sends an official letter to University of California Berkeley Chancellor following the school's announcement of an explicit priority to pursue racial quotas. CFER strongly criticize this 25% Hispanic quota as illegal, unconstitutional, misguided and a self-serving attempt for financial gains.

"All students, regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin, deserve equal protection of the laws in pursuing their education," said Grace Li, Vice President of CFER, "It is distasteful and dangerous for a prestigious institution like UC Berkeley to openly scorn the law and prioritize racial spoils."

This illegal plan was laid out by Chancellor Carol Christ and officials at the school's Division of Equity & Inclusion, following a detailed report by the Chancellor's Task Force on Becoming A Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). "Sadly, nowhere in the HSI task force's December 2020 report has the task force addressed the glaring pipeline issues in K-12 education undergirding the persistent racial achievement gap," according to CFER's official letter.

Setting up racial quotas violates federal and state laws including the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Article I Section 31 of the California Constitution. More importantly, the racial quota plan does nothing to address the real root problems and pipeline issues in K-12 education, thereby not uplifting its targeted student groups while scapegoating hard-working students from disfavored groups. CFER condemns Chancellor Christ and her HSI task force for perpetuating the zero-sum racial favoritism and requests UC Berkeley reverse its HSI plan.