The conservative legal group filed a federal civil rights complaint against Florida State University (FSU) and challenged 32 scholarships allegedly endorsing students based on race, national origin, color or gender. The complaint alleges that these programs violate the equal protection provisions of Title VI, Title IX and Article 14.
The Equality Protection Project explained that the practice of FSU offering scholarships is open to all applicants, while indicating preferences for African Americans, Hispanics, Seminoles, or female students. That amounts to illegal discrimination promoted by public universities. The preferences of donors of submission states included on the scholarship list prevent the disadvantaged applicant from preventing applications and cannot be defended under the Civil Rights Act.
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Title VI prohibits discrimination in federal funding programs based on race, color, or country of origin. Title IX prohibits discrimination based on gender. Both laws apply to FSU as a public university that receives federal funds. The complaint calls for the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office (OCR) to launch a formal investigation, impose remedies, and consider termination of federal aid if a violation is confirmed.
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This action coincides with a broader federal scrutiny of the Priority Aid Program. The Ministry of Education has also launched a civil rights investigation into scholarships for undocumented DACA students from several universities, citing similar discrimination concerns. These investigations were prompted by complaints from the Equal Conservation Project that noncitizens are given priority over American-born students.
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Located in the state where Gov. Ron Desantis rolled back the DEI policy, FSU is currently facing scrutiny for institutional support for race- and sex-based scholarship preferences. This case does not yet include the FSU response. Legal observers hope that OCR will assess whether the donor’s intentions excuse discriminatory standards or whether the university’s platform is an active promoter of unauthorized preferences.
This challenge highlights the legal tension between donor-specific scholarship standards and federal non-discrimination laws. Conservative critics argue that when they appear on public university scholarship lists, they can no longer maintain the ignorance of donors’ preferred language. Potential results include reforming the scholarship platform, elimination of race-based standards, or referrals to DOJ enforcement in the event that the OCR finds persistent violations.
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The results may set precedents. The FSU case has joined the growing trend of complaints about equal conservation projects, covering around 500 programs across more than 100 agencies.
This article was originally published in the American Faith and has been reposted with permission.
