Defending Education filed the complaint on Wednesday, accusing Indiana University of engaging in “discrimination on the basis of race in programs or activities” in violation of both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
“Eliminating race discrimination means eliminating all of it, but Indiana University seems to have forgotten this missive from the Supreme Court and is instead playing fast and loose with constitutional and civil rights protections designed to render government programs entirely color blind,” Sarah Parshall Perry, Vice President and Legal Fellow of Defending Education told the Washington Examiner. “We look forward to the Office for Civil Rights’ investigation into IU for its offering of race-exclusive scholarships.”
Non-white students given ‘preference’ and ‘special consideration’
IU Indianapolis’s School of Education offers the “Patricia Payne Scholarship for Teacher Candidates through its Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It offers “special consideration” to culturally “diverse” students as well as “preference” to African American students.
“Special consideration will be given to underrepresented populations, including but not limited to financially challenged students, and/or students with diverse cultural experiences,” the description of the scholarship states. “Preference will be given to African American students who intend to teach in traditional public schools.”
The university’s Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offers several other race-based scholarships, including the Johnson Underrepresented Student Scholarship, the Bruce Shuck Family Native American Scholarship, and the Wilma A. and Charles E. Harry IV Family Scholarship.
All of these scholarships give African American or Native American students a preferential status.
“As the Department of Education is no doubt aware, discrimination on the basis of race raises concerns that IU has received federal funds in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which declares that ‘no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance,’” the complaint stated.
‘Heavy lifting begins’: Defending Education rebrands
Defending Education’s complaint against Indiana University is one of the organization’s first since expanding its operations to include higher education. Previously known as Parents Defending Education, the organization’s rebrand comes as the Trump administration cracks down on civil rights violations in K-12 and at the university level.
President Donald Trump has pulled, or threatened to pull, funding from schools over racially discriminatory practices related to DEI and for failing to protect Jewish students against antisemitic harassment in violation of Title VI, as well as for allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports in violation of Title IX.
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“This is when the heavy lifting begins,” Defending Education President Nicole Neily said at a Tuesday media call. “Now is the time that we have to actually codify and lock all of these policies in, and so we’ve been trying to work with Congress, state policymakers, state attorneys general just to make sure that all this stuff moves forward.”
Defending Education has been tracking, investigating, and pursuing legal action over similar practices for years. In February, the organization filed a Title VI complaint over Chicago Public Schools’s Black Student Success Plan which aims to increase the number of black teachers in the district and reduce black student suspensions. The group filed another Title VI complaint the same month against San Leandro Unified School District in Oakland, California, over a partnership with an organization that exclusively seeks to help “black boys” and boost “black male teacher recruitment.”
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
