Five Discriminatory Scholarships at U. South Carolina Challenged by Equal Protection Project

Five Discriminatory Scholarships at U. South Carolina Challenged by Equal Protection Project

So far in 2025, our Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) has filed 15 cases with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education, including a case filed on April 17, 2025, against the University of South Carolina. Since its launch in February 2023, EPP has filed complaints against almost 100 colleges and universities, challenging over 300 discriminatory programs and scholarships.

The Civil Rights Complaint against USC regards five (5) racially discriminatory scholarships.

From the Complaint:

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

USC offers departmental scholarships that are mostly awarded to returning students, although some are available to incoming students.2 These scholarships are listed either directly on the USC Departmental Scholarship page or through USC’s Blackbaud scholarship platform.3 [images omitted]

The scholarships listed below are currently offered to USC students and applicants for admission, according to the USC 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 USC 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 currently active.5

Here are the listings of the disputed scholarships (discriminatory eligibility in bold):

1. Free Family Endowed Scholarship Fund6
Discriminatory Requirement: “Sophomore, junior, or senior –underrepresented minority with GPA 3.4 or higher.”
Link: https://sc.academicworks.com/opportunities/8696
Archived Link: https://archive.is/BzwVY

2. Richard T. Greener Scholarship
Discriminatory Requirement: “…the Richard T. Greener Scholarship is awarded to a well-deserving incoming minority freshman based on academic achievement, leadership ability, community service and financial need.”
Link: https://sc.academicworks.com/opportunities/8398
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/zACuV

3. Elizabeth C. Ledeen Scholarship
Discriminatory Requirement: “Awarded to a student that is an American or International minority.”
Link: https://sc.academicworks.com/opportunities/8897
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/UfPYY

4. The Janie Mae and Lafayette Thomas Scholarship
Discriminatory Requirement: “It is the Donor’s desire that the annual scholarships be awarded in furtherance of the diversity mission with particular attention to, but not limited to African-Americans, other ethnic minorities or underrepresented groups, who have been accepted to or currently enrolled in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications.”
Link: https://sc.academicworks.com/opportunities/9537
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/fBsta

5. The Larry and Delores Marie Thomas Scholarship
Discriminatory Requirement: “The annual scholarship is to be awarded in furtherance of the diversity mission with particular attention to, but not limited to African-Americans, other ethnic minorities or underrepresented groups, who have been accepted for admission or who are currently enrolled at the University.”
Link: https://sc.academicworks.com/opportunities/9360
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/a2dSa

As always, we detailed the law, including how terms like “minority” signify non-white:

8 With respect to those scholarships limited to minority applicants, any reasonable student viewing that criteria would understand it to exclude white students, and such students would be dissuaded from even applying or attempting to participate. USC defines “Underrepresented Minority” as “Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black/African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander” https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/institutional_research_assessment_and_analytics/uofsc_data_dashboards/data_dictionary/ [https://archive.is/wip/77Fu9] (accessed April 14, 2025). Further, courts often understand the term “minority” to mean non-white racial and ethnic groups. See Boston Chapter, NAACP, Inc. v. Beecher, 295 F. Supp. 3d 26, 28 (D. Mass. 2018); see also Kirkland v. N.Y. State Dep’t of Corr. Servs., 552 F. Supp. 667, 674, 677 (S.D.N.Y. 1982); Arbor Hill Concerned Citizens Neighborhood Ass’n v. Cnty. of Albany, 281 F. Supp. 2d 436, 455 (N.D.N.Y. 2003); Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary v. Regents of Univ. of Mich., 701 F.3d 466, 493 (6th Cir. 2012).

Breitbart News reported the story:

“That racially discriminatory scholarships exist at a major public university in a deeply ‘red’ state is shocking and reflects how Critical Race Theory and its offshoots like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, are deeply embedded in the campus culture,” William A. Jacobson, founder of the EPP and EqualProtect.org, told Breitbart News. “It is time for higher education everywhere to focus on the inherent worth and dignity of every student rather than categorizing students based on identity groups.” ….

“Creating educational opportunities based on race, color, or national origin violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as well as South Carolina law,” Jacobson said. “Such race-based scholarships also violate USC’s own non-discrimination policies. We are asking USC to live up to the law and its own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers it has erected.”

A spokesman for the university did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit’s filing coincides with a heated debate in the South Carolina statehouse over the propriety of DEI in higher education and a bill that has proposed the banning of the practice. Yet South Carolina’s largest public university continues the discriminatory and unlawful policies, EPP alleges.

Motives don’t justify unconstitutional discrimination, the lawsuit argues.

“Racial and ethnic discrimination are wrong and unlawful no matter which race or ethnicity is targeted or benefits. All applicants are entitled to equal treatment without regard to race, color, or national origin,” Jacobson said. “The Equal Protection Project calls on the senior administration of USC to make sure nondiscrimination standards are upheld throughout the institution.”

“USC should know better than to run scholarships that exclude students based on race, color, or national origin,” he continued. “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?”

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Jacobson added:

The OCR Civil Rights Guidance also confirms what has been clear, that the equal protection and civil rights rulings of the Supreme Court in the Students for Fair Admissions case extend beyond the narrow context of university admissions and affirmative action. The lesson of SFFA is that diversity is not a sufficiently compelling state interest to justify racial discrimination. At its core SFFA is an equal protection clause and Civil Rights Act ruling, and the legal holdings extend wherever those legal protections reach, including scholarships and other educational opportunities.

EPP, a non-profit seeking to ensure equal protection under the law and non-discrimination by the government, has emerged as a leader in the fight for fairness and protection of key constitutional rights not just on college campuses, but also in K-12 schools throughout the nation.

“At EPP we have filed almost 100 cases challenging over 300 discriminatory scholarships and programs,” he said. “In no case are we aware of a school claiming it was free to discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin, so why does it keep happening? Unfortunately, there is a culture on many campuses that excuses some forms of racial discrimination, and that needs to stop.”

Local CBS5 also covered the story.

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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