In response to the filing of an official complaint by Mountain States, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened a civil rights investigation against the University of California at Berkeley.
We filed our complaint when we discovered that UC Berkeley was prohibiting non-BIPOC (by which they mean “Black, Indigenous, and People of Color”) residents from using the university-owned Gill Tract Community Farm. As a public institution, UC Berkeley is bound by federal civil rights and anti-discrimination laws, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
Mountain States is committed to ensuring that all public institutions—including universities—respect the equal dignity and rights of all Americans, regardless of skin color or any other protected class. This procedural step by OCR is a positive development for holding UC Berkeley accountable.
