Feds Open Investigation Into 11 Discriminatory Scholarships at Grand Valley State U After Complaint by Equal Protection Project

Feds Open Investigation Into 11 Discriminatory Scholarships at Grand Valley State U 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 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education announced in a DoEd press release that investigations into six cases involving discriminatory scholarships had been opened. It turned out that three of the six were EPP cases (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

I already wrote about the Ithaca College investigation, now I’ll turn to Grand Valley State University (GVSU), which I wrote about on January 13, 2025, Eleven Discriminatory Scholarships at Grand Valley State U Challenged by Equal Protection Project. From the Civil Rights Complaint:

We bring this civil rights complaint against Grand Valley State University (“GVSU”), a public institution, for illegal race-based discrimination in violation of Title VI. Specifically, GVSU offers, administers, and promotes eleven (11) scholarships that discriminate based on race, color, and/or national origin.

These scholarships are listed, promoted, and administered through the GVSU myScholarships system.2 According to the GVSU website, applicants access this system by logging in and providing their records and information to determine scholarship eligibility. By doing so, students grant GVSU complete access to match them with potential scholarships. [image omitted]

The scholarships listed below are currently offered to GVSU students and applicants for admission, according to the GVSU website, and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations3 by illegally discriminating against students based on their race, color, and/or national origin. Because GVSU is a public university, these discriminatory scholarships also violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.Each of the scholarships listed below are available for the 2025-2026 school year with the application period currently open, according to the GVSU website, and some are renewable annually.4

We then went on to list each scholarship at issue, here’s a sample:

The initial complaint filing was picked up widely in western Michigan, including WOOD NBC 8, ABC13, and CBS News Channel 3.

On March 13, we received the following OCR Letter [full embed at bottom of post] opening the investigation:

On January 13, 2025, the United States Department of Education (the Department), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received the complaint you filed alleging that Grand Valley State University (the University) 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”) limited to students on the basis of their race, ethnicity, and/or color:

1. Johnny C. Burton Memorial Scholarship;
2. Steelcase Inc. Seidman College of Business Diversity Scholarship;
3. Richard A. Winn Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association Scholarship;
4. Brooks First Generation Diversity Endowed Scholarship;
5. Michael ’06 and Janean ’05, ’08 Couch Black Excellence Scholarship;
6. Rev. Terry W. ’70 and Sandra L. (Mackus) ’68 Allen First Generation Diversity Scholarship;
7. Dr. Early Harper Management Scholarship;
8. Social Work Minority Scholarship;
9. Initech Global Diversity in Technology Scholarship;
10. Lupe Ramos-Montigny “SI SE PUEDE” Legacy GVU Foundation Scholarship; and
11. Lupe Ramos-Montigny “SI SE PUEDE” Legacy Scholarship;

…. 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 University discriminates against students on the basis of race and/or color in violation of Title VI and its implementing 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 launch of the investigation also has received a lot of media coverage, including MLIVE:

GVSU is one of six universities that could be in violation of Title VI because of several of its scholarships.

In January, a Rhode Island group filed a federal civil rights complaint against GVSU, alleging the university was engaged in “illegal race discrimination” by using race, color and/or national origin as a qualifier for 11 scholarships available to students for the 2025-26 school year

The group, called the Equal Protection Project (EPP), has filed more than a dozen civil-rights complaints against universities since 2023 relating to scholarships for minority students.

In the case of GVSU, the EPP also filed a complaint with the Department of Education.

ABC 13 covered it:

The Grand Valley Lanthorn also covered it:

On Friday, March 14, the U.S. Department of Education announced it is launching investigations into 52 universities as part of a large-scale initiative targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Grand Valley State University was listed as one of seven schools being investigated specifically for “alleged impermissible race-based scholarships and race-based segregation.” The University received notice from the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) regarding the investigation.

The investigation into GVSU is in response to a federal complaint filed in January by the Equal Protection Project (EPP), which alleged that 11 University scholarships for BIPOC students violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

GVSU President Philomena Mantella released a statement on Friday in response to the investigation.

“Our legal team is currently reviewing this communication from OCR and gathering information to inform the university’s response and next steps,” Mantella said. “GVSU will continue to lean into its values while maintaining compliance with the law.”

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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