(Albuquerque, NM)—On October 28, the Liberty Justice Center filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, alleging that the school’s admissions policies violate Title VI by continuing to use race-based criteria in admissions’ decisions in the name of “diversity”—long after the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear this sort of discrimination is unlawful.
The case, Jakiche v. Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico, is brought on behalf of Michael Jakiche, an exceptionally qualified New Mexico applicant who was denied admission to UNM’s medical school in two consecutive cycles despite credentials exceeding those of admitted students. UNM’s advisement materials and decision letters in 2024 and 2025 expressly referenced “diversity” as a factor in admissions, nearly a year after the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and UNC clarified that race-based admissions and reliance on “student body diversity” as a compelling interest are unlawful.
UNM’s advisements acknowledged that Mr. Jakiche’s GPA and MCAT exceeded those of admitted applicants in both years, but the school maintained that applicants were ranked based on “individual qualities” as well as “the experiences and diversity that they will contribute to the entering class.” Correspondence from the Associate Dean even used the term “diversity” as a measurement used when admitting students.
“Universities have discriminated in admissions for so long, they apparently don’t know how to stop,” said Reilly Stephens, Senior Counsel for the Liberty Justice Center. “Even after the Supreme Court finally made it clear that rigging the system for preferred demographic groups is illegal, it’s proving necessary to remind these institutions of their responsibilities again and again—and so we will.”
The Liberty Justice Center is dedicated to holding institutions and organizations accountable to Supreme Court decisions. July 2023—immediately following SFFA—the organization sent letters to more than 150 medical schools urging compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling or face legal consequences. Today’s filing continues the Liberty Justice Center’s broader effort to ensure institutions of higher education follow the Constitution and federal civil-rights statutes.
The Liberty Justice Center has filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. The filing in Jakiche v. Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico can be found here.