The Equal Protection Project (EPP) (EqualProtect.org) of the Legal Insurrection Foundation has challenged numerous racially discriminatory programs done in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This discrimination comes in various ways, but the overarching theme is to exclude or diminish some people and promote others, based on race, color, or ethnicity. We have filed over two dozen complaints and legal actions in the year since launch in February 2023, with over half the schools withdrawing or modifying the discriminatory programs. (See EPP Mid-2024 Impact Reports.)
Almost all of our actions have addressed discrimination in higher education. In our latest action, we have filed a Civil Rights Complaint (full embed at bottom of post) with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education, against Indiana University regarding 19 race-based scholarships which enact racial barriers and preferences favoring non-white students.
From the Complaint:
We make this civil rights complaint against Indiana University, a public institution which offers, promotes, and administers at least 19 race-based scholarships at the Kelley School of Business, the IU Indianapolis campus and the McKinney School of Law. The number of discriminatory scholarships we are challenging and the number of IU institutions at which they are offered reflects a pervasive and systemic failure to comply with constitutional and statutory requirements at IU, warranting expedited investigation by OCR.We set them out, grouped by school, below. For each scholarship, we have included screenshots of and links to the discriminatory eligibility criteria for that program as shown on the relevant page.For some of the scholarships terms such as “minorities” or variations on that term are used. It is clear from the context of the scholarships and the usage of such terms by Indiana University that these terms reflect a racial and/or ethnic descriptor that excludes whites.2
We the listed and detailed the 19 scholarships at issue. Here a just a small number of examples, including 5 at the law school:
We then detailed why these scholarships are unlawful, and ended by requesting expedited investigati0n by OCR:
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 Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate IU’s role in creating, supporting and promoting these scholarships and to impose whatever remedial relief is necessary to hold it 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. “The way to stop discrimination,” the Supreme Court has taught, “is to stop discriminating.” Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch., 551 U.S. at 748.We request that OCR expedite the investigation of this complaint given the large number of discriminatory scholarships challenged and the systemic failure at IU to adhere to constitutional and statutory nondiscrimination requirements.
EPP is in a major expansion mode, and we expect to broaden our challenges to racially discriminatory programs. But we need your help. We are a small organization going up against powerful and wealthy government and private institutions devoted to DEI discrimination. Donations are greatly needed and appreciated.
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