Thirty-Five Discriminatory U Rhode Island Scholarships Under Investigation by DoEd After Equal Protection Project Complaint

Thirty-Five Discriminatory U Rhode Island Scholarships Under Investigation by DoEd After Equal Protection Project Complaint

The Equal Protection Project (EPP) (EqualProtect.org) of the Legal Insurrection Foundation has challenged numerous discriminatory programs done in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In all we have filed over 50 complaints and legal actions since launch in February 2023, with approximately half the schools withdrawing or modifying the discriminatory programs after our filing. (See EPP November 2024 Impact Report.)

You may recall that on December 11, 2024, we filed a Civil Rights Complaint against the University of Rhode Island challenging 51 scholarships that discriminated on the basis of race (23), race and sex (5), or sex (23)., as detailed in this post, Fifty-One Discriminatory Scholarships At University of Rhode Island Challenged By Equal Protection Project. We included a request for expedited treatment:

Indeed, URI appears to admit that there is a strong likelihood that several of its discriminatory scholarships are unlawful – because in its descriptions of such scholarships URI notes that “if such an award would not otherwise comply with applicable law, then the scholarship shall go to a student with demonstrated financial need and in good standing from a historically underrepresented population at the University.”18 This reflects both a consciousness of guilt on the part of URI and a callous disregard for federal anti-discrimination laws and URI’s constitutional obligations. This highlights the urgent need for OCR to conduct an investigation and put an end to this misconduct before the spring 2025 reapplication period begins.

On January 6. , we received a Letter (full embed at bottom of this post) from OCR notifying us that they had opened an investigation into 35 of the scholarships we challenged, consituting all 28 of the-race based scholarships plus 7 of the sex-based scholarships. The challenge to the other scholarships, all sex-based, were dismissed because OCR already had cases and investigations on the opened, and under OCR policy first-filed taked precedence. This dismissal highlights that URI had known about its scholarship problems for a number of years.

From the OCR Letter:

OCR evaluated this complaint in accordance with OCR’s Case Processing Manual (CPM) (July 18, 2022) and has decided to open Allegations 1–35 for investigation. However, OCR is dismissing Allegations 36–56 for the reasons set forth below.

Allegations Being Dismissed

Section 110(j) of OCR’s CPM states that OCR may close or dismiss an allegation if it has recently addressed or is currently addressing the same allegation involving the same recipient in a compliance review, directed investigation, or OCR complaint. OCR is currently addressing Allegations 36–52 in OCR Case Number 01-20-2030, Allegations 53–55 in OCR Case Number 01-23-2006, and Allegation 56 in OCR Case Number 01-19-2104. Accordingly, OCR is dismissing Allegations 36–56 as of the date of this letter.

Allegations Being Opened for Investigation

OCR will investigate whether the University discriminates on the basis of race, color, or national origin by administering the scholarships referenced in Allegations 1–28, in violation of 34 C.F.R. § 100.3(a) and (b). OCR will also investigate whether the University discriminates on the basis of sex by administering the scholarships referenced in Allegations 29–35, in violation of 34 C.F.R. § 106.37.

Please note that opening an investigation does not mean that OCR has made a final determination with regard to the merits. During the investigation, OCR is neutral; OCR will collect and analyze the evidence it needs in order to make a decision about the complaint. OCR will ensure that its investigation is legally sufficient in accordance with OCR’s CPM. Additional information is available at Complaint Processing Procedures. Please note that you may have the right to file a private suit in federal court whether or not OCR finds a violation.

This is a major development in the case, and I’m glad I was able to discuss it in depth today on Matt Allen Show on WPRO radio, one of the most popular talk shows in Rhode Island.

Transcript Excerpts (auto-generated, may contain transcription errors, lightly edited for transcript clarity).

Allen (02:57):

So what happened with URI, you’ve discovered through their, I believe it was on their website, that they had some 50 some odd, scholarship opportunities that were discriminatory based on race and sex, correct?

WAJ (03:09):

Yes. We, we got a tip about one in particular. And we started to look into it and we realized it’s more than one. It’s actually 51…. And we’ve documented everything. And we found 23 scholarships that were race-based, that excluded essentially students who were not ‘of color’. We found another five which discriminated on both race and sex…. And then we found another, I forget what the math is here, 20 or so that, ere discriminating on the basis of sex. And so we were actually shocked. We had 51 in total. The most we found in any university that we’ve examined in the United States. URI was the worst, the highest number count. And so we filed that complaint and the Department of Education, to their credit, acted very quickly.

We got notification yesterday that they are opening a formal investigation. Now that’s a big deal in these things. It may not sound like a big deal, but that means it not only has passed their jurisdictional test, but it has also passed their test that there’s reason to believe there’s a violation here. Opening investigation is not a conclusion. It doesn’t mean, not mean that they have concluded that URI has violated the law, but there’s enough there to warrant a formal investigation. So yesterday, they opened a formal investigation into 35 of the scholarships.

This gets a little complicated on the math, but it’s important. What they found is that the other scholarships we challenged, they were going to dismiss under their procedures manual because they’re already under investigation. So URI, unbeknownst to us, was already in under investigation for, I think it was 17 or 15, scholarship claims, where other people not related to us, unknown to us, had filed claims about sex discrimination. So URI not only has 51 programs that are a problem, they’ve known about this for a while, and they continue to do it. And that’s really important.

Allen (05:26):

Well, that’s really interesting because we asked them about when you first put this complaint in, was it back? I think it was about a month ago, right? Or a little less than a month ago.

WAJ (05:33):

Less than a month. It was December 11th. So they moved quickly at the Department of Education…. I think that reflects the seriousness of it. They normally don’t move that quickly.

[Commercial break]

Allen (07:15):

Well, it’s interesting because I asked the university about your complaint, and I have to go back and find the actual wording, but I believe they said something to the effect that we don’t know about this complaint. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t know about the other complaints. So I’ll have to get some clarification from the university. But they did send me a statement on this one and what they wrote. This is from … a public information officer at the University of Rhode Island, who writes to me, says: “The university has received notification from the Department of Education will provide a response to the inquiry. The department letter states that opening an investigation does not mean that OCR has made a final determination with regard to the merits. As we’ve stated previously, the university works diligently to comply with the regulatory landscape, and we remain committed to our foundational values, including fostering an inclusive community and respect for the rights and dignity of all.”

So it’s kind of boilerplate nonsense, but you know, they’ve acknowledged just so people know, they’ve acknowledged that yes, there is an inquiry going on here….

WAJ (09:09):

And I think that’s significant because a lot of universities have gotten very complacent, that nothing really happens here. They may end up having to change their behavior, but it ends up being whack-a-mole. You stop this program and they start another, and you stop that one and they start another.

I think those days are going be over on January 20th. There is a new leadership coming into the Department of Education. Presumably there will be a new head of the Office for Civil Rights.

I want them to make the University of Rhode Island a test case on 51 scholarships that discriminate. That’s unheard of. There have to be consequences. And I hope the incoming Trump administration will make the University of Rhode Island a test case for enforcement of the Civil Rights Laws….

They could start a formal administrative procedure. They could refer it to the Department of  Justice for commencement of a lawsuit against the university. Ultimately, and I don’t think this has ever happened to a university for Civil rights violation, but it should,  they can pull the federal funding. When you accept federal funding, part of the deal that you signed is that you will abide by the Civil Rights laws, and you have to certify to that. So there could be potentially an inquiry or an investigation into what sort of certifications did the University of Rhode Island provide to the federal government that said they were complying with the civil rights laws. That’s all open. And I think universities need to take this seriously. And unfortunately, for at least the last four years, they have not taken these things seriously….

Speaker 5 (12:47):

…. There’s another angle here, which is that most of these scholarships, maybe even all of them are named scholarships. Somebody donated money and including CVS, including Bank of America, and including a lot of prominent Rhode Islanders, endowed or donated money for discriminatory scholarships. That’s a problem to me. I’m not saying that they are at any sort of legal risk, but URI should not have allowed these people to be put in a position that they’re donating money to a scholarship that violates the civil rights laws.

[commercial break]

WAJ (16:02):

So the math is a little strange how they count things. They actually count our 51, I don’t wanna get too deep in the weeds, as 56 because where we allege a scholarship violated was both racial and sex discrimination, they count that as two. So I can’t say precisely how many others they had opened, but it probably is in the 17 to 20 range of additional challenges that have been made, in the letter they provided us. They provide the case numbers.. For those other cases, their cases are open, which means URI knows about it. Cases are open involving, again, it’s an approximation 15 to 17 to 20 other complaints that have been made, or scholarships that have been challenged. URI can’t just stick its head in the ground and maybe they think they can and pretend they know nothing….

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