Four Discriminatory Scholarships at U. Oregon Challenged By Equal Protection Project

Four Discriminatory Scholarships at U. Oregon Challenged 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.

“Jacobson started one of the nation’s most aggressive campaigns to suss out and report race-conscious programs in higher education.”

While the fate of the DoEd and it’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is uncertain, it appears that if anything anti-discrimination enforcement will continue, albeit potentially at the Department of Justice. So we have not slowed down at all. We are getting more tips than ever.

On March 4, 2025, EPP filed a Civil Rights Complaint against the University of Oregon for four discriminatory scholarships.

From the Complaint:

We bring this civil rights complaint against the University of Oregon (“UO”) regarding four (4) scholarships that discriminate based on race, color, national origin, and/or sex. As set forth below, such discrimination violates Title VI and Title IX, respectively, and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

UO’s Division of Equity and Inclusion lists several scholarships that are available to students.2 “Scholarships are available to incoming students and to those who are already attending the UO.”3 [image omitted]

The scholarships listed below are currently offered to UO students and applicants for admission, according to the UO website, and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations4 by excluding students based on their race, skin color or national origin, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) and its implementing regulations5 by excluding students based on their sex. Because UO 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 is available for the 2025-2026 school year with the application period currently open, according to the UO website, and some are renewable annually.

We then detail each of the four scholarships and why they are discriminatory:

Scholarships that Violate Title VI (2)

1. Robert J. Erickson Kaiser Permanente Scholarship
Link: https://inclusion.uoregon.edu/erickson
Archived Link: https://archive.is/qpSu6
Description from Oregon Website: “The Erickson Scholarship is intended to encourage the higher education of students of color who are underrepresented in the college system. Each year the student receives a portion of the money to cover tuition, room, board and books.”
Discriminatory Requirement: “Special consideration will be given to students who are Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latinx, or Native American.”

2. Maradel Gale Pacific Islands Scholarship
Link: https://inclusion.uoregon.edu/maradel-gale-pacific-islands-scholarship
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/svcwu
Description from Oregon Website: “The Maradel Gale Pacific Islands Scholarship supports domestic or international students admitted to the University of Oregon, from the Pacific Island Nations (non-Hawaiian); with special preference given to those with proficiency in an indigenous language.”
Discriminatory Requirement: “You must be a Pacific Islander student (Students from the Pacific Island nations of Micronesia, Polynesia or Melanesia, including the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu).”

Scholarships that Violate Title IX (2)

3. Miller Family Graduate Award in Technology & Science
Link: https://cas.uoregon.edu/cas-scholarships-fellowships
Archived Link: https://archive.is/GNtxG
Description from Oregon Website: “Pursuing research in technology or natural science.”
Discriminatory Requirement: “Preference to female students.”

4. Andrea Gellatly Memorial Scholarship
Link: https://honors.uoregon.edu/financial-aid-scholarships/chc-scholarships-second-third-years
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/BEHEa
Description from Oregon Website: “This scholarship is awarded to a woman beginning her final year in Clark Honors College who has demonstrated academic excellence, breadth of interest, and social concern–all of which characterized the late Ms. Andrea Gellatly in her short but influential life.”
Discriminatory Requirement: “woman beginning her final year”

We conclude with a several-page long discussion of the law, and how diversity and other similar goals are not legal excuses:

UO’s explicit race- and sex-based scholarships are presumptively invalid, and since there is no compelling government justification for such invidious discrimination, UO’s offering, promotion, and administration of these programs violates state and federal civil rights statutes and constitutional equal protection guarantees.

In this ever-shifting landscape we will continue our efforts, because Reports of the Death of DEI are Greatly Exaggerated.

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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