Repeat-Offender U. Minnesota’s BIPOC-Only Design Justice Initiative Challenged by Equal Protection Project

Repeat-Offender U. Minnesota’s BIPOC-Only Design Justice Initiative 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. 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 against The University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (UMN), a public university, which through its College of Design administers and promotes a racially-discriminatory initiative called “Design Justice” (the “BIPOC Design Justice Initiative”).

UMN is a repeat offender in programming that discriminates in favor of BIPOC students and against white students, having recently resolved a similar OCR complaint brought by EPP as to a different program, yet it continued such discriminatory conduct with regard to the present program. Accordingly, EPP we requested expedited action by OCR.

From the Complaint:

The stated goal of the BIPOC Design Justice Initiative is “creating space, policies, and practices within our college that support the inclusion and retention of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and other historically underinvested communities.” [image omitted]

One of the initiatives of the BIPOC Design Justice Initiative is to regularly host “Design Justice Affinity Spaces” which are described as “affinity spaces for students and employees who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), Queer, and white allies. These spaces are intentionally crafted to be an outlet and point of connection for the college around issues of identity and intersection. We also host an annual Graduation In Full Color Recognition Event for out BIPOC and Queer students.”[fn] [image omitted]

One of the affinity groups/spaces is the Chroma Collective Student Group which is defined as a student group that “hosts monthly events and provide resources for/with students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color.”[fn] [image omitted]

The BIPOC Design Justice Events website[fn] provides for racially segregated events.

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Evidence of the segregated CLOSED BIPOC-only events during the 2024-2025 academic year is provided on the BIPOC Design Justice Event Registration website linked above:

We then explained in great detail why the BIPOC Design Justice Initiative was unlawful, concluding with a request for expredited treatment since UMN is a repeat offender:

UMN was aware that such BIPOC and students-of-color only programs are unlawful. In May 2023, EPP filed an OCR Complaint regarding another UMN BIPOC program.[fn] UMN quickly changed the program to eliminate race- and ethnicity-based eligibility criteria.[fn] Among other things, UMN reported to OCR that it had removed “any racial criteria or preference.” [fn] Nonetheless, UMN has continued to promote and administer the BIPOC Design Justice Initiative. This repeat offense, in disregard of the clear law laid out to it in the prior complaint, justifies expedited investigation by OCR and remedial action.

As we have seen more generally with the aftermath of the Supreme Court affirmative action decision, a judicial ruling is one thing, compliance by universities is something else. We will continue to monitor UMN 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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