Five Discriminatory Scholarships at Indiana University South Bend Challenged by Equal Protection Project

Five Discriminatory Scholarships at Indiana University South Bend Challenged by Equal Protection Project

So far 2025 has been a whirlwind for our Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org). We have been filing almost a complaint a week with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education, and since launch in February 2023 now are at over 70 complaints challenging over 200 discriminatory programs and scholarships.

Things are not slowing down. If anything, President Trump’s Executive Orders fighting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have raised the public consiousness as to discriminatory practices, and we continue to get a steady flow of tips. While we don’t know exactly what the administraive landscape at OCR will look like, civil rights enforcement is one of the remaining priorities at the shrinking DoEd.

We also expect to expand our complaints beyond DoEd OCR. Most recently, the Department of Justice opened a formal investigation Against the Providence Schools “Educators of Color Loan Forgiveness Program”

On March 26, 2025, we filed a Civil Rights Complaint (full embed at bottom of this post) against Indiana University South Bend (IUSB) regarding five (5) discriminatory scholarships:

We bring this civil rights complaint against Indiana University South Bend (“IUSB”), a public institution, for offering, administering, and promoting five (5) scholarships that discriminate based on race, color, and/or national origin.

These scholarships are listed and promoted through the IUSB Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion scholarship page.2 According to IUSB’s website, “…Indiana University is committed to diversity, special consideration will be given to underrepresented populations, including but not limited to financially challenged students, and/or students with diverse cultural experiences.”

These scholarships are available to IUSB students who submitted their Online Scholarship Application (“OSA”) through their One.IU.edu account by March 15, 2025.3 So long as the students meet the requirements and submit the OSA, they will be considered for these scholarships.

The scholarships listed below are currently offered to IUSB students and applicants for admission, according to the IUSB website, and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations4 by discriminating against students based on their race, color, and/or national origin. Because IUSB is a public university, these discriminatory scholarships also violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. [images omitted]

Here are the scholarships at issue [discriminatory criteria in bold]:

1. Clark Equipment Minority Scholarship

Description: “This scholarship supports students at Indiana University South Bend. Qualified minority students, who without this aid might not be able to obtain a higher education, receive priority consideration.”

2. Helen F. Pope Memorial Scholarship

Description: “This scholarship supports students who are active participants in the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center (“CRHC”). African American/Black, Hispanic, or women students receive priority consideration. Recipient(s) must have a minimum 2.5 GPA, demonstrated financial need, and a leadership role in a CRHC program each semester.”

3. IU South Bend Black Council Scholarship

Description: “This scholarship supports meritorious students enrolled at Indiana University South Bend. African American/Black students receive priority consideration.”

4. Kem Krest “Crossing the Finish Line” Bicentennial Scholarship

Description: “This scholarship supports undergraduate senior students at Indiana University South Bend who will be able to earn their degree in four years or less, are enrolled in a minimum of 15 credits per semester, have a maximum of 30 credits remaining for a baccalaureate degree, have a minimum GPA of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale, are Pell Grant eligible, and are Indiana residents. Indiana University, as part of its mission, is committed to diversity, therefore underrepresented populations, including but not limited to financially challenged students and/or students with diverse cultural experiences, receive priority consideration. African American and/or Hispanic students receive priority consideration from the donor.”

5. NAACP

Description: “This scholarship is intended for African-American students at IU South Bend. The award is renewable for up to four years of full-time, undergraduate study as long as the student stays in good standing and maintains a minimum cumulative high school GPA of 3.0. Recipients must be from South Bend, IN and demonstrate financial need.”

As always, we thoroughly briefed the law and requested the opening of a formal investigation.

This complaint seems to have touched a local nerve, with extensive local media coverage, including 16 News Now:

A lawsuit is challenging five different scholarships the university offers under the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarships page.

The Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed the complaint Wednesday morning, claiming the scholarships violate both Title VI and the 14th Amendment.

These five scholarships are aimed at supporting Black and other minority students, but the EPP is against this, arguing the university is offering, administering and promoting scholarships that discriminate….

“There’s various terminology, which is all race based, racialized terminology, as for who’s even eligible to apply,” says William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project. “And we believe that that’s a violation of the law, that you cannot do that with regard to a scholarship.”

[Click Image To View Video]

The Equal Protection Project has filed over 70 complaints against universities nationwide, targeting over 200 scholarships and student organizations in the process.

The non-profit’s founder said his goal is to have these scholarships and programs available to all applicants.

Indiana University South Bend is the center of the Equal Protection Project’s (EPP) latest complaint, accused of discriminating against race, color, and national origin in promoting five scholarships for minority students….

EPP founder William Jacobson explained the timing of the complaint.

“I don’t remember how these came to our attention, but most likely it was some form of tip. And once we do that, we investigate and we research, we just don’t take somebody’s word for it, and we document it, and we screenshot the website pages, and we archive the website pages,” said William Jacobson, Equal Protection Project Founder, Cornell Law School Professor.

The scholarships named in the complaint include the Clark Equipment Minority, Helen F. Pope Memorial, IU South Bend Black Council, Kem Krest “Crossing the Finish Line” Bicentennial, and NAACP scholarships.

Each of these scholarships target minority applicants, namely Black and Hispanic students.

Jacobson said he doesn’t want to take opportunities away from students.

“We don’t want the students to be deprived of the scholarship money. Each student have equal access to educational opportunities, without regard to race, color or national origin, and that’s our primary goal here,” said Jacobson.

EPP’s founder emphasized the complaints are aimed at making universities more diverse.

“By discriminating a scholarship or a program today, you are [not] solving any problems. You’re just injecting more discrimination into the system. So, to us, the remedy for racism is never more racism. It’s less racism. Let’s take discrimination out of the system,” said Jacobson.

[Click Image to View Video]

A civil rights group has filed a complaint against Indiana University South Bend (IUSB) alleging the university engaged in discrimination in violation of federal civil rights laws.

The complaint, made by civil rights group The Equal Protection Project, claims IUSB offered, administered and promoted five scholarships that violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “by using race, color, and/or national origin to determine scholarship eligibility,” according to a press release sent on Wednesday, March 26.

The Equal Protection Project has called for a federal investigation into the programs, the press release said.

The Tribune called and emailed the university for comment on the situation but did not receive a response.

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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