U. San Diego Discriminatory Scholarships Challenged Under New OCR Guidance by Equal Protection Project

U. San Diego Discriminatory Scholarships Challenged Under New OCR Guidance by Equal Protection Project

The Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) has filed over 60 Civil Rights Complaints covering over 150 university scholarships and programs, resulting in at least 30 “wins” (discriminatory conduct halted). The enormous publicity our efforts have generated (over 250 distinct broadcast media interview and thousands of digital articles, contributed — we believe — to changing the culture surrounding DEI discrimination enabling the political change we are now seeing.

While the fate of the DoEd and it’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is uncertain, it appears that no matter what happens to the department the OCR function will continue, albeit potentially at the Department of Justice. So we have not slowed down at all. We are getting more tips than ever, perhaps because Trump’s Executive Orders have raised the public consciousness.

On February 19, 2025, EPP filed a Civil Rights Complaint with OCR against the University of San Diego (“USD”), a private university, arising from its race- and ethnicity- based discrimination in connection with six (6) discriminatory scholarship programs USD operates, administers and promotes.

From the Complaint:

These scholarship programs set up unequal standards of eligibility so that students similarly situated are treated differently based on race and ethnicity, in clear violation of Title VI. As OCR recently reiterated in its February 14, 2025, Civil Rights Guidance Letter: “under any banner, discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is, has been, and will continue to be illegal.”2

USD has scholarships available “across the college and all the schools, in undergraduate and graduate programs, and based on a variety of admissions criteria, such as merit and financial need.3” Many of these scholarships are departmental and require a separate application4, while other awards are automatically determined by the USD Office of Undergraduate Admissions. [image omitte]

The scholarships listed below are currently offered, according to USD’s website, to USD students and applicants for admission, and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations5 by illegally excluding students based on their race, color, and/or national origin.

Here are examples of the scholarships:

We then went on to explain why these racial and national origin preference violated the law, quoting from new Guidance published by OCR on February 14, 2025:

The scholarships identified above violate Title VI by discriminating on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin.6 Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits intentional discrimination on the basis of 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 college, university, or other postsecondary institution, or a public system of higher education.” See 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-4a(2)(A); Rowles v. Curators of the Univ. of Mo., 983 F.3d 345, 355 (8th Cir. 2020) (“Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in federally funded programs,” and thus applies to universities receiving federal financial assistance). As USD receives federal funds,7 it is subject to Title VI.

In Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harv. Coll., 600 U.S. 181 (2023), the Supreme Court declared that “[e]liminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it …. The guarantee of equal protection cannot mean one thing when applied to one individual and something else when applied to a person of another color. If both are not accorded the same protection, then it is not equal.” Id. at 206 (cleaned up). “Distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry [including race] are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality.” Id. at 208.

As OCR stated in its February 14, 2025, Civil Rights Guidance Letter8:

“Although SFFA addressed admissions decisions, the Supreme Court’s holding applies more broadly. At its core, the test is simple: If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law. Federal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life. Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.”

We concluded by calling on OCR to open an investigation.

The filing was reported on by Fox News [archive]:

A complaint filed by a civil rights organization on Wednesday claims that the University of San Diego is discriminating on the basis of race.

“The Equal Protection Project calls on the senior administration of SDU to make sure nondiscrimination standards are upheld throughout the university,” Cornell professor William Jacobson and founder of the Equal Protection Project, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“SDU should know better than to run scholarships that exclude students based on race, color, or ethnicity,” Jacobson added. “Where were the administrators and staff whose jobs supposedly are devoted to preventing discrimination? Why was there no intervention to uphold the legally required equal access to education?”

In the complaint, filed Wednesday, the Equal Protection Project alleges that 6 of USD’s scholarship programs violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits educational institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin.

“We write in connection with the University of San Diego, a private university, arising from its race- and ethnicity- based discrimination in violation of Title VI,” the complaint states.

The scholarships the Equal Protection Project believes are in violation of Title VI include The FUSO Alumni Network Scholarship, which says preference will be given a Filipino student, the Comité México Scholarship, which requires students of Mexican or Mexican-American heritage, and the Black Alumni Network Scholarship, which would give preference to a Black student.

Similarly, the Latino Alumni Network Scholarship gives preference to latino students, students of color are the preference for the Augusto Boal Endowed Scholarship, and students of color are also the top choice for the Gwendolyn Brooks Endowed Scholarship for the Study of the Humanities, according to the complaint…

The complaint highlights a Friday “Dear Colleague” letter from Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, that reaffirms the protections of Title VI.

Jacobson told Fox News Digital that the news guidance from OCR removes any confusion as to how Title VI should be enforced.

“The February 14, 2025, Civil Rights Guidance issued by OCR reiterates and makes crystal clear what has always been the law, that ‘under any banner, discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is, has been, and will continue to be illegal,'”

Jacobson said. “It does not matter what schools call it – ‘anti-racism’ or ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion,’ or something else – what matters is that no measure of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin is permitted.”

Jacobson said that he hopes the Department of Education will not delay in enforcing Title VI.

“While the federal Department of Education is in a transition period with the change in administrations, we call on the Office for Civil Rights to continue to enforce the legal standards that apply to schools receiving federal funding, particularly as to race, color, and national origin,” Jacobson said. “A transition period should not delay civil rights enforcement.”

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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