Four Discriminatory Scholarships at U Wyoming Challenged By Equal Protection Project
In bold text, UW states: “If after reading a scholarship description, you know you don’t qualify, please don’t apply.”
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 race, color, and national origin discrimination, we will challenge all forms of unlawful discrimination, including sex discrimination.
Since its launch, EPP has challenged over 800 discriminatory programs and scholarships at more than 275 colleges and universities. This is done to ensure that every student has the opportunity to compete on equal terms.
Our most recent filing on February 19, was a Civil Rights Complaint against University of Wyoming (“UW”):
We bring this civil rights complaint against the University of Wyoming (UW), for offering, administering, and promoting four (4) scholarships that discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, and/or sex in violation of Title VI and Title IX, respectively.
UW offers a wide range of scholarships for both admitted and current students. UW requires an additional application for many of its scholarships and emphasizes that only students who meet the eligibility requirements should apply. In bold text, UW states: “If after reading a scholarship description, you know you don’t qualify, please don’t apply.”
We then go on to list the scholarships at issue and why we believe they violate the Civil Rights Act:
The scholarships listed below are currently offered to UW students and applicants for admission, according to the UW website, and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations by discriminating against students based on their race and skin color, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) and its implementing regulations by discriminating against students based on their sex, or both. Because UW is a public university, these discriminatory scholarships also violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
SCHOLARSHIPS THAT VIOLATE TITLE VI (2)
1. Hearst Scholars Award Scholarship:
Link: https://uwyo.academicworks.com/opportunities/49630
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/5D3A0
Discriminatory Requirement: “Applicants must be a member of one of these ethnic groups in the United States: American Indian/Alaska Native; Asian American/Pacific Islander; Black/African American; or Hispanic/Mexican American/Latino/Chicano.”2. Minority Scholarship University of Wyoming:
Link: https://www.uwyo.edu/naercc/scholarships.html
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/THN8i
Discriminatory Requirement: “be a US citizen or permanent resident and a member of one of these ethnic groups: American Indian, Asian American, Black American or Hispanic…”SCHOLARSHIPS THAT VIOLATE BOTH TITLE VI AND TITLE IX (2)
3. John and Sally Steadman Endowment
Link: https://www.uwyo.edu/naercc/scholarships.html
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/THN8i
Discriminatory Requirement: “(b) provide undergraduate scholarships for students in the College from underrepresented segments of the student population, i.e., woman and ethnic minority students.”4. Joan P. Capps Scholarship
Link: https://www.uwyo.edu/naercc/scholarships.html
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/THN8i
Discriminatory Requirement: “For minority women studying in the math or science fields, demonstrating financial need.”
As we always do, we then spend several pages explaining why a racially exclusionary scholarship violated not only federal and state law, but also the university’s own non-discrimination rules. We then request that a formal investigation be opened.
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 complaints against DEI discrimination.
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Comments
underrepresented segments of the student population, i.e., woman
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I thought women were 60% of college enrollment now?
Still doing God’s work. Thank you.
I’m torn by these kinds of programs.
Part of me says if a oerson or group wants to establish and fund the Nathan Bedford Forrest Scholarship for Excellence in Getting There the Firstest with the Mostest” and it’s open to descendants of the Army of Northern Virginia only, people want to apply for it, let everyone’s freak flag fly. Money is speech and such a scholarship on its face isn’t incitement or anything of the sort.
At the same time people should also be able to establish and fund a Louis Farakan (sp?) Scholarship for the Study of Black Nobility open to descendants of people disenfranchised by Jim Crow laws of the American 1890s.
Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.