From: Dean Erwin Chemerinsky
Date: September 15, 2026
Dear Berkeley Law Community,
As I am sure you have heard, the Department of Justice issued a letter saying that it believed that Berkeley Law discriminated in its admissions decisions. We strongly disagree. As I have said repeatedly, the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in its admissions decisions scrupulously complies with Proposition 209, federal statutes, and the United States Constitution. Our admissions policy is clear that race is not considered in any way in admissions decisions. Proposition 209, federal statutes, and the Supreme Court’s decisions do not preclude schools from pursuing diversity so long as they give no preferences based on race. Berkeley Law does not do so.
The Justice Department’s letter is filled with inaccuracies and statements taken grossly out of context. Most of all, it is just wrong in implying that any admitted students are less qualified than others. There were 8,000 applications for admissions for this year’s entering class and every admitted student is superbly qualified to be an outstanding law student and lawyer. Indeed, the overall differences in numerical scores were not statistically significant among groups. A common misunderstanding is that there is statistical significance between scores within several points of one another when there is not.
More importantly, never have our admissions decisions been based solely on numbers. Each application is considered individually. The faculty adopted an admissions policy many years ago, which is adhered to, that requires consideration of many factors, including letters of recommendation, personal statements, and life experience. The Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admission v. President and Fellows of Harvard College is explicit that this is constitutionally permissible.
I know I speak for our faculty in affirming the stellar qualifications of all of our students and vehemently disagreeing with any implication to the contrary in the Justice Department letter.
I am confident that ultimately we will prevail in this matter. I very much appreciate the support of our community as we fight for our values, including the importance of this being a diverse and inclusive community.
Warmly,
Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law
University of California, Berkeley School of Law
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