Six Discriminatory Scholarships at Westfield State U (MA) Challenged by Equal Protection Project

Six Discriminatory Scholarships at Westfield State U (MA) Challenged by Equal Protection Project

So far in 2025, our Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) has filed 14 cases with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education, including a case filed on April 5, 2025, against Westfield State University, a public university in Massachusetts. Since its launch in February 2023, EPP has filed complaints against almost 100 colleges and universities challenging over 300 discriminatory programs and scholarships.

You may recall that Westfield State was one of 20 New England colleges and universities participating in the North Star Collective BIPOC Fellowship, against whom we filed a civil rights complaint on March 19, 2025. The current complaint is unrelated to the North Star complaint.

In this Civil Rights Complaint, we challenge six (6) discriminatory scholarships at Westfield State, four of which discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and two of which discriminate on the basiss of sex, in violation of Title IX

From the Complaint:

We bring this civil rights complaint against Westfield State University (“Westfield State”), a public university, for discrimination in six (6) scholarships based on race, color, national origin, or sex, in violation of Title VI and Title IX, respectively.

Westfield State offers a variety of internal scholarships through their “Westfield State Foundation.2” These scholarships “celebrate diverse experiences and interests.” [image omitted]

To apply, students must log in using their Westfield State email and password.3 To be considered for any scholarship, students must first submit the Westfield State general scholarship application. Certain scholarships will require applicants to submit additional materials. [image omitted]

The scholarships listed below are currently offered to Westfield State students and applicants for admission, according to the Westfield State website, and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations4 by illegally excluding students based on their race and skin color or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) and its implementing regulations5 by excluding students based on their sex. Because Westfield State is a public university, these discriminatory scholarships also violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.6

Each of the scholarships listed below are available for the 2025-2026 school year, with applications closed as of March 23, 2025 ….

We then detail each of the scholarships at issue, which have eligibility requirements such as:

• “To provide funds for Latino students from the Springfield Public Schools enrolled as Education majors.”
• “Applicant must be African American or Caribbean American student who graduated from the Springfield Public Schools.”
• “This scholarship was established by Dr. Hill to help underrepresented minority students achieve their dream of receiving a college education.”
• “This scholarship was established to provide support to Hispanic/Latino students from Holyoke, MA transferring into Westfield State University from Holyoke Community College.”
• “Applicant must be a non-traditional female student with a business major in business Economics/ Management.”
• “The scholarship will be a deserving female high school seniors (sic) planning to pursue a degree in Mathematics or Education.”

As always, we then extensively brief the law and request that OCR open a formal investigation.

WWLP 22 in Springfield, MA, covered the story:

“When we looked, there were six scholarships that are their face, that are discriminatory,” said William Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project. “Right in the description: ‘4. On the basis of race or ethnicity,’ which violates title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and ‘2. On the basis of sex,’ which violates Title IX of the Civil Rights Act.”

The lawsuit states that six scholarships through their “Westfield State Foundation” listed on their website violate both Title VI and Title IX. The filing includes scholarships that directly go towards helping Latinos, African Americans, and women.

The foundation argues that the scholarships are unfair to students who don’t fit into those categories. Also, since Westfield State is a public university, the foundation states that these scholarships also violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“If you only take third-year students, it should be open to all third-year students,” Jacobson said. “If you only take first-year students, it should be open to all first-year students. Our goal is not to end the scholarships. We want the students to get the money, but we think every student should have an equal shot.”

Jacobson said they did not reach out to the institution, since the applications for these scholarships closed on March 23. Instead, they filed a complaint with the Department of Education in hopes of a formal investigation.

22News reached out to Westfield State University but did not hear back yet. Jacobson also said that over 30 schools with similar cases have chosen not to fight this complaint.

They’re now asking the office for civil rights to investigate.

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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