Our Equal Protection Project has challenged over 200 institutions regarding over 700 discriminatory programs and scholarships.
In our most recent filing, we filed a complaint and request for investigation with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the Union Scholars Program (“Union Scholars”), a program run jointly by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (“AFSCME”) and Harvard.
From the Complaint [some images omitted]:
We write to request that the Department of Justice open an investigation into Harvard University’s involvement in the Union Scholars Program (“Union Scholars”), a program run jointly by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (“AFSCME”) and Harvard. Although administered by AFSCME, Harvard partners in, promotes, and provides institutional support for this program that is open only to individuals from “historically marginalized communities,” which AFSCME describes in its promotional materials as “students of color.” Such racially discriminatory admissions criteria utilized in a joint program run by Harvard are particularly outrageous considering Harvard was the subject of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling prohibiting use of race in admissions.I. Union Scholars Program – For “Students of Color”AFSCME has run the Union Scholars Program since 2003,1 when it was created in partnership with Harvard Law School’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy and the Wurf Fund.2 The program is for “students of color”3 and provides ten applicants with a $4,800 stipend, a $6,000 need-based scholarship, paid housing and travel, among other benefits.4
Participants must complete “a 6-week field placement on a union organizing campaign” and other required activities.5 The internship trains students to recruit workers for union membership, conduct site visits, organize meetings and rallies, and participate in on-the-ground campaign operations under AFSCME supervision, concluding with a mandatory debriefing at AFSCME’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. * * *II. Harvard InvolvementHarvard partnered with AFSCME to run the Union Scholars Program.7 The program’s application states: “In partnership with the Harvard University Center for Labor and a Just Economy and the Jerry Wurf Fund, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Union introduces the Union Scholars Program: a summer scholarship and internship opportunity…8” Harvard’s name and information is placed throughout the Program materials.9The orientation is held on Harvard’s campus and includes training sessions led by Harvard-affiliated labor educators.10 Harvard’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy and the Jerry Wurf Memorial Fund provide institutional and financial support to the program. Faculty and staff from Harvard help design and deliver educational content, including workshops on union organizing and workers’ rights.Harvard has also promoted the program through its official online platforms, reflecting its active participation in the initiative. The tentative 2026 Program Dates already have been posted by Harvard 11 and the application portal is open.12III. Union Scholars Program Race-Based Admissions RequirementsThe Union Scholars Program is explicitly race-restricted. Its eligibility requirements state that applicants must “[b]e a college student of a historically marginalized community.”13 The phrase “historically marginalized community” 14 is often used as an alternative to “underrepresented minority,” and AFSCME makes this meaning clear elsewhere. On its “Scholarships” page, the program is described as “a summer internship program for students of color passionate about social justice and workers’ rights.” 15 This language is consistent with prior descriptions of the program on other platforms.16* * *IV. The Union Scholars Program Violates The Law…. Harvard is familiar with the law prohibiting use of race in admissions, as it was a party in in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023), where the Supreme Court declared that “[e]liminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it …. The guarantee of equal protection cannot mean one thing when applied to one individual and something else when applied to a person of another color. If both are not accorded the same protection, then it is not equal.” Id. at 206 (cleaned up). “Distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry [including race] are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality.” Id. at 208….Considering that Harvard litigated the issue of race-based admissions all the way to the Supreme Court and lost, prompt and aggressive DOJ action is warranted….
The NY Post covered the filing:
“What doesn’t Harvard understand about not discriminating based on race?” said William Jacobson, president and founder of the Equal Protection Project, a legal watchdog that filed the complaint, to The Post.“The US Supreme Court told Harvard to stop; now it’s up to the Department of Justice to make Harvard stop,” said Jacobson, an alum of Harvard….“The Harvard Union Scholars Program provides very valuable benefits to students, and it should be open without regard to race,” Jacobson said.Technically, the Union Scholars program is administered by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, but the complaint contends that Harvard actively supports it.“Harvard isn’t a bystander; it hosts the orientation, provides support, and promotes the program,” added Robert Fox, a lawyer for the Equal Protection Project.“By putting its name on a race-restricted opportunity, Harvard is engaging in unlawful discrimination.”AFSCME, the largest public sector trade union in the country, created the Union Scholars Program in 2003 in conjunction with Harvard Law School’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy….On one webpage describing the effort, AFSCME calls it “a summer internship program for students of color passionate about social justice and workers’ rights.”But The Equal Protection Project’s 11-page complaint insists, “The Union Scholars Program is explicitly race-restricted.“Its eligibility requirements state that applicants must ‘[b]e a college student of a historically marginalized community.’ The phrase ‘historically marginalized community’ is often used as an alternative to ‘underrepresented minority.’ ”Applications for next year’s program are still under way, with a Feb. 28, 2026, deadline.The Equal Protection Project, which targets discrimination in higher education, pointed to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which restricts institutions of higher education that deliberately discriminate on the basis of race from getting federal funds.The watchdog is calling on Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon and her team to probe whether Harvard’s involvement in the Union Scholars Program is a Title XI violation.“Considering that Harvard litigated the issue of race-based admissions all the way to the Supreme Court and lost, prompt and aggressive DOJ action is warranted,” the complaint added.Trump has threatened to cut off billions of dollars for research and other purposes from the elite school over its refusal to acquiesce to his demands to scrap its DEI and race-based policies….Neither Harvard nor the AFSCME responded to Post requests for comment.“I am a Harvard Law School graduate,” Jacobson said. “I fully understand the arrogance and self-righteousness of the university.“But enough is enough when it comes to the use of race in admissions, whether to the university or to its programs.”
UPDATE:
It appears that after the Complaint was filed and the NY Post ran its story, that AFSCME changed the language on it’s website to remove the “students of color” language:
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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