Michael Hiltzik: Is UCLA 'a failed medical school'? Debunking a dumb right-wing meme

The right-wing and Republican project to eradicate diversity and inclusiveness from American society has become more absurd with every passing day, but it will be hard for anyone to produce a more vapid and fatuous effort than a recent article labeling UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine as a "failed medical school."

The reason for that label, according to the right-wing Washington Free Beacon, which published the article, is that UCLA has "prioritized diversity over merit, resulting in progressively less qualified classes that are now struggling to succeed."

To its perverse credit, the Beacon doesn't conceal the racist import of its claims; on the contrary, it announces it outright, citing the school's "race-based admissions" and quoting one of its anonymous sources (there is no other category) as saying, "We want diversity so badly, we're willing to cut corners to get it."

An admissions officer is quoted anonymously as grousing, "All the normal criteria for getting into medical school only apply to people of certain races. For other people, those criteria are completely disregarded."

The article purports to rely on complaints from eight of the school's faculty members. The medical school's full-time faculty numbers more than 2,000, with an additional 2,000 to