AG Candidate Will Scharf Supports Our Call For An Investigation Of Missouri State U. Program That Excluded White Males

AG Candidate Will Scharf Supports Our Call For An Investigation Of Missouri State U. Program That Excluded White Males

The Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) of Legal Insurrection Foundation has challenged a Missouri State U ‘Business Boot Camp’ That Excluded White Males. EPP filed a complaint with Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who was appointed to fill the office after prior AG Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate. Among other things, EPP asked that the AG’s Office put a stop to the practice and investigate DEI practices throughout MSU, since this was not the first racially-exclusionary MSU program.

Our complaint has generated substantial media attention in Missouri and nationally:

• No-whites-allowed business boot camp for minorities and women at Missouri State University violates state and federal laws, must be investigated by AG, watchdog argues (The Heartlander, Missouri)
• Government watchdog asks Missouri AG to investigate MSU business boot camp that excluded White males (Fox News Digital)

We never received a response from MSU, but in statements to the press MSU said it would not do it again, as we covered in VICTORY – Missouri State U To Stop Discriminating Against White Males For ‘Business Boot Camp” After Equal Protection Project Complaint.

We never received a response from Attorney General Bailey’s office, so we followed up with a letter calling attention to the continued need for an investigations:

We write to follow up on our letter of April 18, 2023, in which we called your attention to the fact that Missouri State University (“MSU”) was engaging in racial- and gender-based discrimination through its sponsorship, promotion and hosting of a small business training “boot camp” that limited participation to individuals who identified as “BIPOC” or who are female, and that excluded white males from eligibility. We have not yet received any response from your office or from MSU….

the Springfield Daily Citizen that “the university [did] nothing wrong” in part because the program “was funded with private money.”2 The argument is specious, however, given that MSU participated in creation of the eligibility criteria, participated in the evaluation and selection of the boot camp’s applicants and hosted the program in MSU facilities. See Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 213.065(2), 213.070.
Perhaps realizing as much, MSU told The Heartlander3 and Fox News4 that the “no white males allowed” boot camp was offered on a “one-time” basis, and that while MSU’s efactory would continue to offer the Early-Stage Business Boot Camp Program at no cost to the participants, it would now do so “irrespective of their race and/or sex.”5

Despite MSU’s pledge to no longer base eligibility in the program on protected categories, the discriminatory harm caused by its having done so must still be remedied. MSU offers no remedy in its public statements, and has not committed to running a specific number of future boot camps free from discrimination in order to provide training to those denied the benefit of the prior program.

MSU’s public statement also does not explain how such a clearly discriminatory program was permitted to happen. As set forth in our April 18 letter, this is not the first time MSU has run a racially exclusionary program. An investigation by your office of MSU’s practices and procedures is warranted into how such an openly discriminatory program was allowed to occur at MSU, and to ascertain whether other programs at MSU use racial, gender or other impermissible classifications to exclude or limit participation in them.

Earlier this week, the Springfield Daily Citizen reported that a Springfield resident named Jim Robinette had wanted to apply to the boot camp last winter but did not do so because, as a white male, he was ineligible for it.6 Robinette complained to MSU as well as to state and federal officials about the blatantly discriminatory nature of the boot camp, but no one responded to him.7 The failure – or perhaps refusal – of MSU to address Mr. Robinette’s legitimate concerns warrants investigation by your office, as well. This is especially urgent given President Smart’s assertion that the university did “nothing wrong.”8
We respectfully request that the Office of the Attorney General commence an investigation of MSU’s practices and procedures, including its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programming, to ensure that all ongoing and future programming through MSU and its affiliates comports with the Constitution and state and federal civil rights laws….

We still have received no response from Attorney General Bailey’s office.

But Will Scharf, who is challenging Bailey in the Republican primary, has weighed in. In an interview on the Wake Up Springfield radio podcast on KWTO, Scharf was asked by host Chandler Haynes about the business boot camp and the criticisms from EPP.

Here is the excerpt of the portion about EPP and the MSU bootcamp:

(Transcript auto-generated, may contain transcription errors)(emphasis added)

Haynes (00:00):

This watchdog has called for a probe into the no white males allowed business school happening at Missouri State University. And amongst other things being sexist and racist. Clearly. Well, the people involved in this program received $3,000 stipends to come down to the Springfield and to participate in this class. And, well, that’s right on the heels of us bringing on a new commissioner of Higher Education, Bennett Boggs from Colorado, these things have consequences. So how do, how do we, how do you as an candidate for Attorney General and hope, and maybe one day, the Attorney General, what would you do to help hold these boards and these bureaucracies accountable whenever new appointments, I guess stray from the path.

Sharf (00:41):

Yeah. And just to expand things out a little bit, I think I missed your segment before that covered the Missouri State issue. What happened here is Missouri State University was sponsoring a small business incubator program that, as you said, had financial stipends attached to it, and materials associated with that program said it was only open to BIPOC individuals, that’s black, indigenous, and people of color. So it was closed to white people. It’s racially discriminatory, illegally discriminatory on its face. And a watchdog group called the Equal Protection Project demanded answers from Springfield, and also demanded that our Attorney General’s office investigate violation of state law, investigate what the heck’s going on at one of our state’s great universities.

Haynes (01:35):

Well investigate state sponsored racism.

Sharf (01:38):

Exactly. And I actually spoke to someone from the Equal Protection Project yesterday. They haven’t heard back from the Attorney General’s office yet. The Attorney General’s office has made no public statement on this issue yet. This is sort of go along to get along Republicanism,  where nobody wants to stir the pot and nobody wants to ruffle any feathers. So Missouri State University gets to walk off into the sunset without providing real answers and without anyone demanding accountability for this absolutely outrageous incident that happened down there, program that they’ve sponsored.

To get back to your question, what needs to happen, we need statewide leaders, whether it’s our state attorney general, other statewide office holders, who are willing  to really ride herd on state and local government to make sure that our taxpayer dollars aren’t going to racially discriminatory programs, to make sure that our taxpayer dollars flowing through schools aren’t funding critical race theory, radical gender ideology, in our schools. This is what needs to be happening. But all too often what we see out of Jefferson City is just this desire to, you know, make friends and just be friendly. And I think we’re just past that as a state and, and past that as a country at this moment in time.

Haynes (03:04):

Absolutely. The voters demand more. I said that the voters are more educated and more agitated than they ever have been before, which is a good thing for conservative policy. We are joined by Will Sharp. He’s running for Attorney General ….

We will continue to reach out the the Attorney General’s office about whether this disriminatory conduct will be investigated.

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