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The administration of the American president Donald Trump announced an investigation into hiring practices in the system of the University of California (UC), the last case of his quarrel with higher education.
The Ministry of Justice said Thursday that it would investigate the efforts of the UC system to increase the diversity of staff, accusing the school of location of practices which “openly measure the new hires by their race and their sex”.
The Trump administration previously represented Diversity initiatives as a form of discrimination.
“Public employers are linked by federal laws which prohibit racial discrimination and other employment,” said Harmeet Dhillion, head of the Civil Rights Division, in a statement.
“The institutional guidelines that use hiring practices based on race and sex expose employers to a legal risk under federal law.”
In a notice letter at the University of California, the Ministry of Justice noted that he had “reasons to believe” illegal actions have occurred on some of the school campuses. But that added that he had “made no conclusion on the subject of the investigation”.
The system of the University of California is one of the most important public university systems in the United States, with 10 campuses and more than 299,000 students registered.
The school defended its hiring practices Thursday in response to the survey announcement.
“The University of California is attached to fair and legal processes in all our programs and activities, in accordance with federal and anti-discrimination laws,” a spokesperson for the UC system said. “The university also aims to promote an environment on the campus where everyone is welcomed and supported.”
President Trump has not yet weighed on the investigation, but his administration has repeatedly clashed with American universities during his second mandate in the White House.
The prestigious universities, like Harvard and Columbia, had federal subsidies and canceled contracts about the allegations that they did not do enough to repress the demonstrations of the campus against the War of Israel in Gaza.
The Trump administration said these demonstrations were anti -Semitic and created a dangerous environment for Jews on university campuses.
Trump and his allies also described universities as homes of left -wing ideas and political dissent. In the case of Harvard University, the Trump administration sent a letter on April 11 with a list of changes.
One to force Harvard to an external audit of his inscriptions and his staff, to assess the “diversity from a point of view” in order to implement “reforms” to his admissions and hiring practices. The external party, noted the letter, should “satisfy the federal government”.
Harvard resisted these requests, citing the need to protect academic freedom. The Trump administration has since threatened its tax exemption status and has sought to restrict its ability to register foreign students.
In response, Harvard has brought prosecution to restore its federal funding and block the Trump administration attempts to ban foreign students.
On Thursday, the school also unveiled an agreement with the University of Toronto which would allow foreign students to continue their Harvard studies in Canada if Trump’s visa restrictions affected their ability to take courses.
Critics have described Trump’s actions as an effort at pressure Schools are more in line with the White House political opinions and priorities.
A particular flash point for the Trump administration was the efforts to promote the diversity of university hiring and registration.
Supporters say that these initiatives help to counter the inheritance of discrimination in higher education, but the Trump administration said They are themselves a form of discrimination.
At a press conference Thursday, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not weigh on the details of the UC investigation, but reaffirmed Trump’s commitment to dismantle diversity initiatives.
“It is the position of this president that we want to restore a society and a culture based on merit in the United States of America where people are not hired, and they are not promoted, depending on the color of their skin or sex,” she said.
On the first day of his second term, Trump signed a decree ending the programming “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) in the federal government. He described these programs as a “immense public waste and shameful discrimination”.
But criticisms argued that Trump’s efforts were their own form of discrimination, violating the constitutional rights of those with whom he does not agree.
The government, for example, sought to expel several foreign students who participated in pro-Palestine activities on university campuses, raising questions of freedom of expression.
They include a Turkish graduate student named Believe Ozturkwhich was arrested by immigration agents for having co-author an article in the school of the school calling at the end of the war in Gaza.
