The Equal Protection Project, a conservative nonprofit based in Rhode Island, filed a complaint against Indiana University Columbus.
The complaint, filedwith the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, is against the IU Columbus African American Fund Scholarship, created in partnership with The African American Fund of Bartholomew County. To earn the scholarship, students must be African American.
In its complaint, the group said students who are not African American are “illegally excluded” from the IU Columbus’ scholarship and discriminated against. It claims IU Columbus commits a Title VI violation — discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin.
“And because IUC is a public institution, its offering and administering of the scholarship also violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the Equal Protection Project said.
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An IU spokesperson said the university does not comment on legal complaints.
The Equal Protection Project has filed similar complaints across the nation. The group is part of the Legal Insurrection Foundation project. According to its website, the Equal Protection Project is “focused on combating racism and other equal protection violations perpetrated in the name of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”
The Department of Education will look into the complaint. If the department determines the complaint is valid, it will conduct a formal investigation.
“The Office for Civil Rights does not confirm complaints,” a DOE spokesperson said. “Our list of open investigations, updated every Tuesday, is available here. To learn more about how OCR processes cases, please see our case processing manual.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright .
