The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) David Geffen School of Medicine, one of the top medical schools in the world, has reportedly declined in its rankings, with some faculty attributing this to admissions decisions that they say “prioritize diversity over merit.”
In 2021, Associate Dean for Admissions Jennifer Lucero allegedly expressed anger when an admissions committee member questioned the suitability of a black student whose grades and test scores were significantly below the school’s average, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon on Thursday.
State law in California prohibits public schools from considering a person’s race during the admissions process. Lucero’s reaction reportedly made some admissions officers uncomfortable, with one calling it “troubling.”
The outlet reported:
Interviews with the Free Beacon and complaints to UCLA officials, including investigators in the university’s Discrimination Prevention Office, indicate that faculty members with firsthand knowledge of the admissions process believe it has emphasized diversity over merit. This, they say, has resulted in increasingly less qualified classes that are now struggling. … Within three years of Lucero’s hiring in 2020, UCLA’s ranking dropped from 6th to 18th place in U.S. News & World Report‘s medical research category. In some cohorts admitted during her tenure, over 50 percent of students failed standardized tests in emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics. … “Race-based admissions have turned UCLA into a ‘failed medical school,’ said one former admissions staff member. ‘We want racial diversity so badly, we’re willing to cut corners to get it.’”
Lucero’s biography on the school’s website states that she “actively participates in the recruitment of underrepresented students to the medical profession through her work in pathway and outreach programs.”
“As a Chicana physician, she takes a special interest in diversity issues in medicine and disparities in the delivery of obstetric healthcare to women of color,” the website notes.
The school’s website features an “Anti-racism Roadmap” and claims a commitment to combating “structural racism.”
In March, UCLA required first-year medical students to attend a lecture on “racial equity,” during which a guest speaker reportedly had attendees chant “Free Palestine.”
