*Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have allowed California universities to consider an applicant’s lineage to enslaved ancestors in their admissions process.
Assembly Bill 7 would have permitted—but not required—colleges to give preference to descendants of slavery, Politico reports. In his Oct. 13 veto message, Newsom called the proposal “unecessary,” stating that universities “already have the authority to determine whether to provide admissions preferences” for such groups.
Legal experts, however, argued the measure ran afoul of federal prohibitions on affirmative action. “Prioritizing the status of those who self-identify as descendants of U.S. slaves in college admissions is the same as using racial classifications,” Edward Blum previously told The Fix. Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions—the organization that represented Asian students in the case against Harvard University’s affirmative action policies—added, “Being a descendant of a slave is an exact proxy for being an African American.”
Newsom’s decision also reflected broader legal concerns that the bill could violate Proposition 209, which prohibits race-based admissions in California’s public universities, as well as the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action nationwide. “I thank the author for his deep commitment to addressing disparities in education stemming from the legacy of slavery,” Newsom wrote. “These institutions already have the authority to determine whether to provide admissions preferences like this one, and accordingly, this bill is unnecessary.”
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Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, the bill’s author, described the veto as “more than disappointing.” He said, “While the Trump Administration threatens our institutions of higher learning and attacks the foundations of diversity and inclusivity, now is not the time to shy away from the fight to protect students who have descended from legacies of harm and exclusion.”
Despite his veto, Newsom urged universities to “review and determine how, when, and if this type of preference can be adopted.”
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