Feds Open Civil Rights Investigation Into Ithaca College Scholarships After Complaint by Equal Protection Project

Feds Open Civil Rights Investigation Into Ithaca College Scholarships After Complaint by Equal Protection Project

The Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) has filed over 60 Civil Rights Complaints covering hundreds of university scholarships and programs. The enormous impact our efforts have had contributed — we believe — to changing the culture surrounding DEI discrimination enabling the political change we are now seeing.

On March 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education announced that approximatly half the employees of its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) were placed on administrative leave (including those who previously took buyouts) as part of a worforce reduction plan. Several regional offices also were closed. Needless to say, this created a concern that OCR would cease to function effectively.

Those doubts were allayed on March 13, 2025, when we received letters from OCR opening investigations into three cases of our that had been sitting for months.

We didn’t know it at the time, but our three cases among the six opened for investigation related to discriminatory scholarships and race-based segregation, as announced in a DoEd press release this morning (our cases highlighted)

The schools under investigation for alleged impermissible race-based scholarships and race-based segregation are:

• Grand Valley State University
• Ithaca College  
• New England College of Optometry
• University of Alabama
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities 
• University of South Florida
• University of Oklahoma, Tulsa School of Community Medicine

You may recall our Civil Rights Complaint on June 24, 2024, against Ithaca College, Discriminatory Scholarships From Repeat Offender Ithaca College Challenged By Equal Protection Project

Despite two prior contested scholarships and programs, Ithaca College continues to discriminate, leading to EPP’s Civil Rights Complaint:

We bring this civil rights complaint against Ithaca College for creating, supporting and promoting two racially discriminatory scholarships for undergraduate students. As detailed and documented below, only undergraduate “students of color” are allowed to participate in these scholarship programs. Applicants who do not meet the race- and color-based criterion are ineligible for them.

Because the scholarships discriminate based on race and skin color, they violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations.1

The Scholarships

Ithaca College maintains a “BIPOC Unity Center”2 whose goals include “empowering IC students to resist and interrupt systems of oppression” and “foster[ing] BIPOC student belonging and brave spaces to be seen, be valued, and be heard.”3

Through the BIPOC Unity Center, Ithaca College awards two scholarships per academic year – the Rashad G. Richardson “I Can Achieve” Memorial Scholarship (“Richardson Scholarship”) and the African-Latino Society Memorial Scholarship (“ALS Scholarship”).4

According to an informational page on the Ithaca College website that describes both scholarships, the Richardson Scholarship “is intended to recognize a high-achieving, student of color at Ithaca College,” and that “[t]he ideal candidate will have made significant contributions toward improving the quality of life for PoC [Person of Color] youth in the Tompkins County community.”5

Similarly, the ALS Scholarship “is awarded to a student of color at Ithaca College who has made significant contributions to the Ithaca College campus,” and “aims to honor a student who has worked to influence and promote the academic, political, social, economic, and cultural welfare of students of color at IC and the greater Ithaca community.”6

Here are excerpts from the Letter Opening Investigation we received yesterday (full embed at bottom of post):

On June 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), received the complaint you filed alleging that the Ithaca College (the College) discriminates against students on the basis of race and/or color in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d et seq., by offering the following scholarships (collectively, “the Scholarships”), which are limited to students on the basis of their race and/or color:

1. Rashad G. Richardson “I Can Achieve” Memorial Scholarship; and
2. The African-Latino Society Memorial Scholarship.

OCR enforces Title VI and its implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 100, which prohibit discrimination on the bases of race, color, and national origin in any program or activity operated by a recipient of federal financial assistance from the Department. Discrimination on the bases of race, color, and national origin will not be tolerated. Because the University receives federal financial assistance from the Department, the University must comply with Title VI and its implementing regulations.

OCR evaluated this complaint in accordance with OCR’s Case Processing Manual (CPM) (Feb. 19, 2025) to determine whether to open the complaint for investigation. OCR has completed its evaluation of the complaint and has determined that it will open the complaint for investigation.

OCR will investigate the following legal issue: whether the College discriminates against students on the basis of race and/or color in violation of Title VI and its regulations by restricting access to the Scholarships based on race and/or color.

While the opening of a formal investigation is not a finding of guilt, is the first major step in a case, so it’s a big deal.

The Ithaca Times covered the story:

In a letter on Thursday, OCR notified Jacobson that after evaluating the complaint, the office made the determination to open the investigation.

“The opening of the IC investigation appears to be part of a renewed push at OCR to fight racial discrimination in higher education,” Jacobson said. “We welcome such efforts, since every student is entitled to equal opportunity without regard to race, color, or national origin.”

The federal investigation is a first for Ithaca College, but is the third of its kind in the Ithaca community.

Just last month, the department launched an investigation into the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) for holding Students of Color Summit events following an August complaint filed by Jacobson.

Both complaints sat without action until the Trump administration took office. Despite the complaint against Ithaca College being filed months before the ICSD complaint, the ICSD investigation was opened first.

The opening of three more of our cases for investigation is a good sign that the new sliMmed-down OCR may be more effective than the old OCR. We have filed nine OCR cases so far this year and we have several more lined up for filing.

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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