Twelve Discriminatory Scholarships At Penn College of Technology Challenged by Equal Protection Project

Twelve Discriminatory Scholarships At Penn College of Technology Challenged by Equal Protection Project

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

On April 1, 2025, we filed a Civil Rights Complaint against Pennsylvania College of Technology, a self-governing affiliate of Penn State University, regarding twelve (12) discriminatory scholarships.

From the Complaint:

We bring this civil rights complaint against Pennsylvania College of Technology (“Penn Tech”), a self-governing affiliate of Pennsylvania State University, for offering, administering, and promoting twelve (12) scholarships that discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, and/or sex in violation of Title VI and Title IX, respectively. These scholarships are listed, promoted, and administered through the Penn Tech Financial Aid department. 2 Students submit one application annually and Penn Tech matches them with “…as many awards as possible.” [image omitted]

The scholarships listed below are currently offered to Penn Tech students and applicants for admission, according to the Penn Tech website, and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations3 by excluding students based on their race, color, or national origin, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) and its implementing regulations4 by excluding students based on their sex, or both. Because Penn Tech 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 for the 2025-2026 school year. Applications are accepted from December 1, 2024, through October 1, 2025, with awards beginning on April 1, 2025. There is only one application for all listed scholarships. So long as students complete the scholarships application and meet the requirements, they are considered.5

Here’s a sample of some of the scholarships challenged

Start to Finish Minority Student Scholarship
Link: https://www.pct.edu/admissions/financial-aid/scholarships/penn-college-scholarships/start-to-finish-minority-student
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/06kk4
Discriminatory Requirement: “Are a racial or ethnic minority”

Keith S. Kuzio Larson Design Group Scholarship
Link: https://www.pct.edu/admissions/financial-aid/scholarships/penn-college-scholarships/keith-s-kuzio-larson-design-group
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/UHxdy
Discriminatory Requirement: “Are a minority and/or female student”

Dorothy Gerring and William Geyer Architecture Scholarship
Link: https://www.pct.edu/admissions/financial-aid/scholarships/penn-college-scholarships/dorothy-gerring-and-william-geyer
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/AMAVz
Discriminatory Requirement: “Female student”

The Daily Wire wrote about the case:

An affiliate of Pennsylvania State University was hit with a federal civil rights complaint on Tuesday alleging that scholarship opportunities discriminated against white and male students on the basis of their race and sex.

The Equal [Protection] Project hit the Pennsylvania College of Technology, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania State University, over 12 different scholarships, including some that require applicants to be “a racial or ethnic minority,” “female,” or considered “previously marginalized” on account of their identities.

“Creating educational opportunities based on race, color, national origin, or sex violates Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act, as well as Pennsylvania law,” said William A. Jacobson, the founder of the Equal Protection Project. “Such race-and sex-based scholarships also violate Penn Tech’s own non-discrimination policies. We are asking Penn Tech to live up to the law and its own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers it has erected.” …

“Racial, ethnic, and sex discrimination is wrong and unlawful no matter which race, ethnicity, or sex is targeted or benefits. All applicants are entitled to equal treatment without regard to race, color, national origin, or sex,” Jacobson charged. “It does not matter what schools call it — ‘anti-racism’ or ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion,’ or something else — what matters is that no measure of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin is permitted.”

The Penn State student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, also covered it:

National civil rights group Equal Protection Project has filed a federal complaint alleging that Pennsylvania College of Technology, an affiliate of Penn State University, violated federal civil rights laws by administering and promoting scholarships that exclude students based on race, ethnicity, national origin, and sex.

The civil rights group, a nonprofit legal initiative that advocates for equal treatment under the law, filed the complaint on Tuesday. The group claims that 12 scholarships offered by the college are in violation of Title VI and Title IX, which prohibit discrimination based on race, color, national origin and sex in federally funded education programs.

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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