Indiana University hit with civil rights complaint over NINETEEN race-based scholarships
The complaint uses Indiana University’s own website and publicly available eligibility requirements to make the case that the scholarships violate federal law.
An anti-discrimination group has filed a federal civil rights complaint against Indiana University, which currently offers 19 race-based scholarships that violate federal law.
The Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed the complaint against the university on July 15. The group has filed around 30 similar complaints against universities throughout the United States. The group hopes that the case will be investigated by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
William Jacobson, president of the EPP, told The Herald-Times that the 19 scholarships under legal scrutiny at Indiana University are the most that EPP has challenged at a single college.
“This is probably the most pervasive discriminatory scholarship activity we’ve seen anywhere so far,” Jacobson said. “Nineteen, to us, reflects a systemic disregard with not only the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act, but also Indiana University’s own rules.”
EPP’s complaint uses Indiana University’s own website and publicly available eligibility requirements for the scholarships to present the case that they violate federal law.
“Preference is given to African American students studying investment management or investment banking,” states the description of one scholarship. “Preference will be given to African American students who are also first-generation college students,” reads another.
“Because the discriminatory scholarship eligibility criteria outlined above are presumptively invalid, and because IU cannot show any compelling government justification for those restrictions, IU’s limitation of scholarships based on race and national origin violates federal civil rights statutes and constitutional equal protection guarantees,” the complaint contends.
The complaint urges the Office for Civil Rights to investigate the scholarships and “impose whatever remedial relief is necessary” to hold the university “accountable for that unlawful conduct.”
“This includes, if necessary, imposing fines, initiating administrative proceedings to suspend or terminate federal financial assistance and referring the case to the Department of Justice for judicial proceedings to enforce the rights of the United States under federal law,” EPP explains.
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Tthat EPP has also filed complaints against include the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, and Kansas State University. So far, the organization has seen significant success.
“At least half of the schools have changed their discriminatory practices in response to our complaints,” Jacobson stated.
Campus Reform has contacted Indiana University and the Equal Protection Project for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
