‘Repeat Offender’ UW-Madison Hit With Second Civil Rights Complaint By Equal Protection Project For BIPOC-Only Program

‘Repeat Offender’ UW-Madison Hit With Second Civil Rights Complaint By Equal Protection Project For BIPOC-Only Program

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, ethnicity, or sex. In all we have filed over 40 complaints and legal actions since launch in February 2023, with over half the schools withdrawing or modifying the discriminatory programs after our filing. (See EPP September 2024 Impact Report.)

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 the University of Wisconsin at Madison for promoting the Mentorship Opportunities in Science and Agriculture for Individuals of Color (“BIPOC MOSAIC”), which is open only to “BIPOC” and students “of color,”

If this sounds familiar, its because in January 2024, EPP previously challenged a BIPOC-only program at UW-Madison, forcing the university to change the program, as detailed in UW-Madison Drops Racial Restrictions And Renames ‘BIPOC Fellows’ Program After Equal Protection Project Challenge (October 12, 2024). Soon after we received notification that UW-Madison had revised the BIPOC Fellows program we learned of the BIPOC MOSAIC program, and now we have challenged that too.

UW-Madison’s repeat offender status formed the basis near the start of the Complaint to seek:

“expedited action by OCR because, as set forth below, UW-Madison is a repeat offender, having previously resolved another OCR complaint regarding another BIPOC-only program, yet instituting and promoting the present BIPOC MOSAIC program anyway. Clearly OCR action is needed to bring UW-Madison into compliance with the law.”

From the Complaint:

According to the UW-Madison website, the “Mentorship Opportunities in Science and Agriculture for Individuals of Color (“BIPOC MOSAIC)” is a UW-Madison program, offered through the university’s College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, designed to “foster a supportive community by connecting BIPOC postdocs and graduate students with enthusiastic mentors who understand and share their experiences.”1

The stated “Purpose” of the program is “to render potential mentors of color more visible to up-and-coming academics of color, including postdocs and graduate students…. Our goal is to reduce the virtual space between graduate-level BIPOC on this campus and foster a closer community through these connections and guidance from enthusiastic mentors with shared experiences.”2 [image omitted]

As the name of the program suggests, race- and ethnicity-based criteria dictate who can participate in the BIPOC MOSAIC program. Eligibility is restricted to BIPOC (Black Indigenous, People of Color) graduate students and postdocs (along with BIPOC faculty and alumni): “Our Mentorship Opportunities in Science and Agriculture for Individuals of Color (MOSAIC) mentorship program opens doors for BIPOC students ….” [image omitted]

The phrase “Students of Color” is defined by UW-Madison as “[a] domestic (non-international) student who identifies, alone or in combination with other racial/ethnic categories, as African American/Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic/Latino(a), or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.”

The BIPOC MOSAIC program membership form requires that an applicant attest to whether they are BIPOC: “Do you identify as BIPOC? (While “yes” is sufficient, we understand that personal identity is frequently a complicated question. Please feel free to take as much or as little space as you would like in answering.)”

We then go on to demonstrate other aspects of the program promotion that make clear the racially restrictive nature of the program, and the involvement of senior administrators, and why such conduct is unlawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

The BIPOC MOSAIC program at UW-Madison makes clear that students who do not meet the prerequisite racial categories – for example, students who identify as white – are automatically ineligible. Indeed, based on the requirement that participating students be BIPOC or “of color,” any reasonable student viewing the information on the UW-Madison website would understand the racially exclusionary basis of the program, and non-BIPOC students would be dissuaded from even applying or attempting to participate.

The discrimination is apparent: if applicants are African American/Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic/Latino(a), or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, they are automatically eligible for the program. Applicants who do not fall into one of those racial categories are automatically excluded from consideration.

It violates Title VI for a recipient of federal money to create, support and promote a racially segregated program. When a public institution does so, such conduct also violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

* * *

UW-Madison is aware that such BIPOC and students-of-color only programs are unlawful. UW-Madison recently resolved another complaint regarding another UW-Madison program (OCR Docket # 05-24-2221) by renaming that program to eliminate race- and ethnicity-based references and removing racial and ethnic eligibility criteria. That UW-Madison instituted and continued this unlawful BIPOC-only program despite the prior complaint and resolutions demonstrates the need for OCR action.

As we have seen more generally with the aftermath of the Supreme Court affirmative action decision, a judicil ruling is one thing, compliance by universities is something else. We will continue to monitor UW-Madison and other institutions to achieve compliance, though we are realistic that this will be an ongoing effort.

Reminder: 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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