Equal Protection Project Alerts HHS To Ongoing Biden-Era Discriminatory Grant Programs

Equal Protection Project Alerts HHS To Ongoing Biden-Era Discriminatory Grant Programs

The Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) is a project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation devoted to fighting unlawful discrimination in all forms. While most of our cases have involved discrimination based on race, color, or national origin, we challenge all forms of unlawful discrimination to ensure equal treatment under the law.

Since its launch, EPP has identified and challenged more than 550 discriminatory programs and scholarships at over 120 colleges and universities—working to ensure that every individual has an equal opportunity to compete on the merits.

On October 16, 2025, EPP sent a Complaint Letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights concerning three active grant programs that contain discriminatory eligibility criteria.

Through a review of publicly available databases, we have identified three (3) HHS grant programs that require recipients to implement discriminatory selection criteria… Based on publicly available information, these programs appear to be active.

These practices violate the federal civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees of equal protection, including Title VI and the Fifth Amendment. Such practices also violate Executive Order 14173, which, among other directives, requires executive departments to eliminate racial and other unlawful preferences:

We then list the three discriminatory grants:

1. NBCCF MINORITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING (MFP-MHC)
Link: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_H79SM090069_075
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/9nOMc
Recipient Name: NBCC Foundation Inc
Program Website: https://www.nbcc.org/advocacy/mfp [https://archive.is/wip/dPNCc]
Discriminatory Grant Description: “THE MFP-MHC WILL RECRUIT UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS AND PROMOTE SPECIALIZATION IN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO UNDERSERVED MINORITY COMMUNITIES.”

2. NBCCF MINORITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR ADDICTIONS COUNSELING (MFP-AC)
Link: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_H79SM090068_075
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/qlmyy
Recipient Name: NBCC Foundation Inc
Program Website: https://www.nbcc.org/advocacy/mfp [https://archive.is/wip/dPNCc]
Discriminatory Grant Description: “THE MFP-AC WILL RECRUIT UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS AND WILL ENCOURAGE SPECIALIZATION IN ADDICTIONS/SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES TO UNDERSERVED MINORITY COMMUNITIES.”

3. COUNCIL ON SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION MINORITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Link: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_H79SM090071_075
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/9LuHZ
Recipient Name: Council on Social Work Education
Program Website: https://www.cswe.org/centers-initiatives/minority-fellowship-program/mfp-doctoral-students/ [https://archive.is/wip/deltu]
Discriminatory Grant Description: “THE FELLOWSHIP TARGETS, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF RACIAL AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE COMMUNITIES INCLUDING AMERICAN INDIAN OR ALASKA NATIVE, ASIAN, BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN, HISPANIC/LATINO AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER.”

The Complaint Letter was covered by the Washington Times which reported:

Three Department of Health and Human Services grant programs are violating Trump administration bans on racial preferences in federal funding for higher education, according to a complaint filed with the agency’s Office of Civil Rights.

Cornell University law professor William Jacobson, who founded the Equal Protection Project to promote colorblind civil rights policies, asked HHS in the complaint to cancel the Biden-era programs immediately.

“Getting the discrimination created under the Biden administration out of the system is like trying to get soap out of a sponge,” Mr. Jacobson said Monday. “No matter how much you squeeze, there always seems to be more…”

…Mr. Jacobson added that while the Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged the complaint, the agency “indicated that substantive action may be delayed” by the federal government shutdown.

Newsmax also reported on the Complaint Letter:

Three Department of Health and Human Services grant programs created under then-President Joe Biden violate Trump administration bans on racial preferences in federal funding for higher education…

Jacobson filed the complaint with HHS, requesting in a letter that the programs be canceled immediately.

He cited three programs that the Biden administration started in September 2024 to distribute $5.7 million in minority fellowships for Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students training to become counselors and social workers, according to The Washington Times.

Most of the $2.77 million already awarded has been distributed under President Donald Trump.

“These practices violate the federal civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees of equal protection, including Title VI and the Fifth Amendment,” Jacobson wrote in his letter to HHS, which was shared with the news outlet. “Such practices also violate Executive Order 14173, which, among other directives, requires executive departments to eliminate racial and other unlawful preferences.”

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.

Robert Fox is an attorney at the Equal Protection Project, and focuses, among things, on filing civil rights complainst against DEI discrimination.

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