Anti-affirmative action group, emboldened by US Supreme Court, targets
scholarships
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[September 22, 2023]
By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) - A non-profit group opposing race-based education policies
has filed more than a dozen U.S. civil rights complaints this year
against universities, challenging the legality of offering minority
scholarships, summer study and residency programs to promote racial
diversity.
The challenges are part of a growing campaign against diversity
initiatives after a U.S. Supreme Court landmark ruling in June outlawed
use of race in college admissions, commonly known as affirmative action.
Conservative activists say the decision should extend to all educational
programs, and some groups have also challenged corporate diversity
policies.
The Equal Protection Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation,
headed by Cornell University clinical law professor William Jacobson,
filed the complaints with the U.S. Department of Education's civil
rights office.
The latest complaint, filed last week, accused Western Kentucky
University of violating civil rights law by offering two scholarships –
one for undergraduate students and one for graduate students – available
only to minority applicants. The university did not respond to a request
for comment.
Other targets include a minority scholarship at Kansas State University
and a residency program for Black filmmakers at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
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In an interview, Jacobson said the education department has asked the
group for more information but has not indicated whether it will launch
formal investigations. A departmental spokesperson said the office for
civil rights does not discuss details of its cases.
Jacobson said any program contingent on race is unlawful.
"The typical response is, well, what's wrong with wanting diversity?" he
said. "There's nothing wrong with that. But you can't do it through
racial discrimination, and the Supreme Court has been very clear about
that."
Advocates say race-conscious programs are necessary to combat
institutional and societal disadvantages facing minority students,
particularly in light of the Supreme Court's decision. Black children
are more likely to grow up in low-income households, with less access to
high-quality child care and enrichment activities.
Top schools have warned that eliminating race as an admissions factor
will result in fewer minority students.
"A student missing $1,000 or having a gap of $800 could mean the
difference between being able to graduate or not," said Ameshia Cross,
director of communications for the Education Trust, whose website says
it works to "dismantle the racial and economic barriers embedded in the
American education system."
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![](../images/092223PIX/news_w16.jpg)
Avery Hobgood hands a flyer to a passerby as fellow Affirmative
Action Coalition student activists Sarah Zhang (C) and Christina
Huang (R) look on at the University of North Carolina campus in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S., March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan
Drake/File Photo
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Cross, who also works as a Democratic strategist, said she would not
have been able to attend Belmont University, a private school,
without the help of an annual $5,000 minority scholarship.
RESPONSE TO RULING
While the Supreme Court's ruling was limited to admissions, it
prompted some schools to re-examine race-based programs.
The University of Missouri system announced it would eliminate race
as a factor in awarding scholarships. The state's Republican
attorney general sent a letter instructing all colleges in Missouri,
including private schools, to adopt race-blind standards for
admissions, scholarships, employment and other programs.
Other schools have vowed to pursue alternative avenues toward
improving racial diversity, such as increasing recruiting from
underprivileged schools.
Evan Caminker, a law professor at the University of Michigan, said
it was not yet clear whether the Supreme Court decision would extend
beyond admissions to race-conscious programs. He noted that the
court emphasized the "zero-sum" nature of admissions - every
successful applicant takes away a spot from other potential
students.
By contrast, a school might award its scholarships in a race-neutral
way, only to then decide which specific scholarships would be
assigned to which students, he said.
The Department of Education's civil rights office is likely to be a
frequent battleground. In July, the office confirmed it had opened
an investigation into whether Harvard discriminates against
minorities by favoring "legacy" applicants with ties to donors or
alumni, following a complaint filed by civil rights groups.
On Tuesday, the organization that won the Supreme Court case,
Students for Fair Admissions, filed a new lawsuit challenging
affirmative action admission practices at the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point. The Supreme Court had exempted military academies
from its June decision, saying in a footnote that these schools
might have "distinct" interests.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and David
Gregorio)
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