U. Virginia BIPOC Alumni-Student Mentoring Program Challenged By Equal Protection Project

U. Virginia BIPOC Alumni-Student Mentoring Program Challenged By Equal Protection Project

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 the University of Virginia (“UVA”), a public university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, for creating, sponsoring and promoting a racially
discriminatory program called the BIPOC Alumni-Student Mentoring Program (“BIPOC Mentoring Program”).

From the Complaint:

UVA’s School of Education and Human Development (“EHD”) recently announced on its
website the creation of the BIPOC Mentoring Program.2 According to the website, a portion of
which is reproduced below, the BIPOC Mentoring Program “provides up to 25 BIPOC
undergraduates in EHD each fall with individual guidance and support from alumni educators as
they navigate the early stages of their program and/or career. The program’s goal is to improve
BIPOC undergraduates’ program experiences, career opportunities, and retention through
pairing these learners with alumni mentors.”3 [image omitted]

In addition to conditioning its students’ eligibility to participate in the program on their
being “BIPOC” – which UVA’s website defines as “[a]n acronym for black, indigenous and people
of color”4 – the program imposes the same racial and ethnic requirement on UVA graduates who
wish to participate as program mentors.5 [image omitted]

The application for the BIPOC Mentoring Program asks students to identify their “race
and/or ethnicity” and to “indicate [their] interest in having an alumni mentor of Color … in the
2024-2025 academic year.”6 [image omitted]

The fact that the application form inquires if students are seeking to join the program to
obtain “advice about navigating UVA EHD as a person of color” makes clear that a student’s
eligibility to participate in the program turns on his or her race and ethnicity.8

We then to on to detail why the program violates the law and OCR has jurisdiction.

The BIPOC Mentoring Program violates Title VI because it conditions eligibility for
participation on a student’s race, ethnicity and skin color. And, because UVA is a public university,
its creation, sponsorship, promotion and hosting of this discriminatory program also violates the
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.9 ….

Title VI prohibits intentional discrimination based on race, color or national origin in any
“program or activity” that receives federal financial assistance. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000d. The term
“program or activity” means “all of the operations of … a public system of higher education.” See
42 U.S.C. § 2000d-4a(2)(A). As UVA receives federal funds,10 it is subject to Title VI and OCR’s
jurisdiction.

Indeed, based on the requirement that participating students be BIPOC, any reasonable
student viewing the information on the UVA website would understand the racially exclusionary
basis of the program, and non-BIPOC students would be dissuaded from even applying or
attempting to participate.11

***

OCR has jurisdiction over this complaint. UVA is a public university and a recipient of
federal funding, including from the U.S. Department of Education.13 The BIPOC Mentoring
Program clearly falls within the scope of Title VI and OCR’s jurisdiction. It does not matter that a
particular program may be considered “extracurricular” or just a “club” or “group” – as OCR noted
in its 2023 Guidance on Race and School Programming, all “[s]chool programs – including the …
establishment, recognition, or support of a school group, club, or other extracurricular
organization” are covered by Title VI.14

[click image for video]

News 29 in Charlottesville covered the story:

UVA is now facing a new civil rights case regarding one of its on-grounds mentorship programs.

The non-profit organization Equal Protection Project filed a complaint on Tuesday, contending that UVA is discriminating on the basis of race and asking the federal government to launch an investigation.

“We’re not seeking money for ourselves,” said William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project. “We’re not seeking legal fees for ourselves. We’re seeking to change discriminatory behavior.” ….

Jacobson says the Mentoring Program violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and by promoting it, UVA is in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Both prohibit discrimination on the basis of race.

“Just as it would be a violation of the university’s rules to have a whites-only mentoring program, it’s a violation of the rules to have a non-whites-only program,” Jacobson said. “The university needs to be race-neutral in its educational and related programming.” …

But Jacobson says that regardless of intention, the program is illegal.

“They also have to comply with the constitutional requirements.” ….

“Our hope is that the University of Virginia senior administration will look at this and recognize that it’s indefensible and not want to fight a losing battle, and therefore will look at it and change the behavior and open the program up,” Jacobson said.

[Click on image for video]

At the core of the complaint, UVA allegedly is racially discriminating against white students who wish to join a student group for people of color but are not allowed.

The civil rights group, Equal Protection Project, filed the complaint today and has demanded an investigation into the university group BIPOC Alumni-Student Mentoring Program.

“It excludes white students and we believe that just as unlawful as if the reverse had happened and it was a program that was open only to white students,” said William Jacobson, founder of Equal Protection Project.

The College Fix editor Matt Lamb also wrote an Opinion piece about it:

The University of Virginia should take some free legal advice – if a program is includes “BIPOC” in its name or otherwise uses racially exclusionary language, it’s liable to be hit with a civil rights complaint.

The Charlottesville university is finding that out now, as the Equal Protection Project accuses it of violating federal anti-discrimination law with its “BIPOC Alumni-Student Mentoring Program.”

“BIPOC” refers to “black, indigenous, and people of color.” Even though it is well-established in federal law that higher education institutions that received federal funds cannot discriminate on the basis of race, UVA marches on with its exclusionary program….

The School of Education and Human Development program “provides up to 25 BIPOC undergraduates…each fall with individual guidance and support from alumni educators as they navigate the early stages of their program and/or career,” according to the website.

Put another way, the program “provides up to 25 [non-white students]” with special opportunities, in probable violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“The fact that the application form inquires if students are seeking to join the program to obtain ‘advice about navigating UVA EHD as a person of color’ makes clear that a student’s eligibility to participate in the program turns on his or her race and ethnicity,” the Equal Protection Project wrote in its complaint to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

The group shared a copy of the complaint with The Fix and provided further comments via a media statement.

“After the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students For Fair Admission, it is clear that discriminating on the basis of race to achieve diversity is not lawful,” William Jacobson told The Fix. He is the founder of the Equal Protection Project and filed the complaint. He is also a law professor at Cornell University.

“Sending a message to students that access to opportunities is dependent on race and ethnicity is damaging to the fabric of campus,” Jacobson also said.

Indeed, dividing students on the basis of race is unjust and causes further problems on campus.

It is truly amazing in the current year that universities continue to allow anti-white programs to exist.

Keep the federal complaints coming.

We will continued to monitor the program, and see if UVA voluntarily modifies the eligibility requirements to remove discriminatory barriers.

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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