WATCH: Law firm backs high-level student suing UW over race-based admissions

“Stanley is the type of kid who did everything right. He demonstrates what we tell young people to do. Work hard, show initiative, achieve, and yet the story shows what happens when merit runs headfirst into a racial arbitrary racial barrier. That's something that that has got to end,” said Pacific Legal Foundation Senior Counsel Andrew Quinio in an interview Thursday with The Center Square.

“If there's some other reason Stanley didn't get in then that's something that of course, he can live with. But what they can't do is reject based on race,” said Quinio.

The University of Washington's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering rejected Zhong’s application in 2023.

“Stanley applied to the Allen School of computer science and engineering. Their DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] plan expressly stated that they would measure their percentage of domestic black, Hispanic, and American Indian, Alaska native, and Hawaiian Pacific Islander graduates after five years, to evaluate whether that percentage of those students was at least 15%,” said Quinio.

“That is the express racial goal, numerical racial goal, that our Constitution forbids.”

The Center Square reached out to the University of Washington about the lawsuit and Victor Balta with UW Communications responded to say Zhong’s admission denial was based on his lack of residency.

“The vast majority of out-of-state applicants are not admitted because, as Washington’s flagship university, we prioritize Washington residents for admission,” wrote Balta.

The Center Square sent a follow up question asking if the UW has any race-based priority admissions policies.

“No,” wrote Balta.

A U.S. District Court judge recently denied UW’s request to dismiss the case, so the parties are now moving into the discovery phase, where Quinio said they’ll have access to documents about UW’s internal planning for admission policies.

“What they can't do is reject based on race. If there is some race-neutral reason for it, that's not unconstitutional. That's not unlawful, so we want to get to the bottom of that,” Quinio said.

Pacific Legal claims UW’s race-based admission policies go beyond just the Allen School.

“University of Washington has a diversity blueprint where it states their efforts to increase their capacity to serve students from underrepresented communities, specifically, Indigenous, black and persons of color. Notably absent from those categories are Asian students,” Quinio said.

While denying that race plays into admission decisions, the UW Section IV page states, “The UW Board of Regents is committed to pursuing strategies that will increase diversity at the University, and since the passage of I-200 in November 1998, UW has implemented many new initiatives and programs in response to the removal of race, gender, and national origin from direct consideration in admissions decisions."

"The University has revamped its admissions criteria to conform to new legal frameworks, while at the same time ensuring the recruitment and matriculation of a diverse student body.”