On May 20, the school held the ceremony designed for Black students, which has been an annual tradition on campus for decades.

MSLF argues that the public institution violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which holds that: “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

“All of Berkeley’s events and programs must be open to everyone, regardless of race,” said MSLF general counsel Will Trachman. “No event can cater exclusively to black students, just as no event can cater exclusively to white or Asian students.”

[Intent matters in these instances, but in form this still looks like … segregation. The first question I’d ask, though, is whether non-black students were *barred* from attending such celebrations. If not, this challenge may not have much chance of success. I don’t think the trend toward segregated graduations is healthy, but unless schools enforce attendance on a racial basis, I am not sure they are a civil rights matter either. There’s a difference between bad policy and illegal policy. — Ed]