Discriminatory Scholarships at Six of The Claremont Colleges Challenged By Equal Protection Project

Discriminatory Scholarships at Six of The Claremont Colleges Challenged By Equal Protection Project

Our Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) has challenged over 550 discriminatory programs and scholarships at over 120 colleges and universities.

On September 5, 2025, we filed a Civil Rights Complaint against six institutional members of the private The Claremont Colleges consortium in California:

The Claremont Colleges is a consortium of seven private institutions in Claremont, California.2 The consortium includes five undergraduate liberal arts colleges—Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Scripps College, and Pitzer College—and two graduate institutions, Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute.3 Each college operates independently with its own admissions and academic programs, but they share certain resources such as libraries, facilities, and cross-registration of courses.

[fn] 3 No scholarships or programs at Keck Graduate Institute are being challenged in this complaint

The consortium model is based on the structure of Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom. It allows students enrolled at one college to take classes at the others and to participate in joint services and activities. The colleges are located adjacent to one another, forming a single contiguous campus area….

Because of the interconnectedness and intersectionality of programming from the various member institutions, particularly as to the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (see Exhibit A) we suggest that OCR may consider The Claremont Colleges as an identifiable unit for investigation, in addition to the individual institutional members.

Here is the tally as to the number of challenged scholarships by school:

• Pitzer College (9) (see page 4)
• Claremont Graduate University (4) (see page 8)
• Harvey Mudd College (2) (see page 11)
• Claremont McKenna College (1) (see page 13)
• Pomona College (1) (see page 14)
• Scripps College (1) (see page 14)

All of the undergraduate institutional members of the Claremont Colleges offer, promote, or administer a discriminatory joint fellowship, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, described in Exhibit A (see page 20). In addition, several of the schools offer other scholarships or programs that are also discriminatory and violate federal law, as set forth below.

We then go through each school one at a time, listing which scholarships violate Title VI (race, color, national origin) or Title IX (sex.)

Fox News covered the story:

“The Claremont Colleges are among the most elite and highly-ranked liberal arts colleges in the nation. That race- and sex-based discriminatory scholarships exist at such highly-ranked institutions is shocking and reflects how Critical Race Theory and its offshoots like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, are deeply embedded in the campus culture. It is time for higher education everywhere to focus on the inherent worth and dignity of every student rather than categorizing students based on identity groups,” said William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project.

He went on to say, “Creating educational opportunities based on race, color, national origin, or sex violates Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act, as well as state law. Such scholarships also violate the non-discrimination policies of the institutional members of the Claremont Colleges. We are asking the Claremont Colleges and its institutional members to live up to the law and their own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers.” ….

The Equal Protection Project maintains that racial and ethnicity-based requirements for scholarships and programs violate federal civil rights statutes. The group, a civil rights watchdog, says it has filed over 100 legal challenges against colleges and universities targeting more than 500 “discriminatory programs and scholarships.”

Jacobson added, “Race and sex discrimination is wrong and unlawful no matter which race or sex is targeted or benefits. In no case are we aware of a school claiming it was free to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex, so why does it keep happening? Unfortunately, there is a culture on many campuses that excuses some forms of discrimination, and that needs to stop.”

The California Globe also covered the case:

William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project, filed a federal civil rights complaint last week against the Claremont Colleges for allegedly violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations by discriminating against students based on their race, color, or national origin, while other scholarships violate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and its implementing regulations by discriminating against students based on their sex.

The complaint demands an investigation into six of the elite California colleges, for various alleged violations….

“Creating educational opportunities based on race, color, national origin, or sex violates Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act, as well as state law. Such scholarships also violate the non-discrimination policies of the institutional members of the Claremont Colleges. We are asking the Claremont Colleges and its institutional members to live up to the law and their own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers.”

Jacobsen explains that the scholarships should remain intact, but the discriminatory aspects need to be removed: “We do not want these scholarships terminated, we want the discriminatory provisions removed. We want students to have access to the funding, but every student should have fair and equal opportunity for scholarships without regard to race, color, national origin, or sex.”

“Race and sex discrimination is wrong and unlawful no matter which race or sex is targeted or benefits.” ….

“We call on the Claremont Colleges to reexamine the campus culture, including at the institutional members, to understand why some forms of discrimination appear to be tolerated.”

The Equal Protection Project is the nation’s leading civil rights group devoted to eliminating discriminatory programming, practices, and scholarships in higher education, having filed legal challenges to over 110 colleges and universities covering over 500 discriminatory programs and scholarships.

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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