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 thirty complaints and legal actions 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 Roosevelt University (Illinois) regarding a race-based program for black chicago males.
From the Complaint:
We write in connection with Roosevelt University, based in Chicago and Schaumberg (“Roosevelt”), a private university, arising from its illegal sex-based and race-based discrimination in violation of Title VI and Title IX. Specifically, Roosevelt operates, administers and promotes the Black Male Leadership Academy (“BMLA”),2 which as its name indicates and the program description confirms is offered exclusively for Black males.As the program website states, “The Black Male Leadership Academy (BMLA) provides opportunities for young men in grades 9-12 who attend Chicago public high schools and schools in the Chicagoland area, to expand their social, cultural and intellectual capital,” but upon clicking the “read more” button, the discriminatory nature of the program—that is, the fact that it is only open to “African-American males”—is made plain, as shown in the screen shot below.3 [image omitted]In violation of Title VI this program illegally excludes and discriminates against all non-Black persons based on their race and in violation of Title IX this program illegally excludes and discriminates against all non-male students based on their sex. We expand on this below.
The story was covered in a short clip on local TV:
I also provided the following statements to the media:
“Opening up opportunities to disadvantaged high school students is a worthy goal, and one which the Equal Protection Project supports, but it must be done in a manner that does not discriminate based on race or sex.””It does society no good to inject more racism and sexism into the educational system through discriminatory college scholarships and programs.””Roosevelt knows better than to run educational programs that exclude students based on race and sex. Roosevelt’s own nondiscrimination standards forbid race and sex discrimination. Roosevelt should live up to its own set of rules.”
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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