The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into the University of Wisconsin-Madison over a fellowship program complainants say discriminates based on race.
The Education Department Office for Civil Rights opened the inquiry Monday on the heels of a complaint filed by the nonpartisan Equal Protection Project in January, calling foul on the school’s Creando Comunidad: Community Engaged Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Fellows program.
“The opening of an investigation by OCR is an important first step in bringing accountability to the university for a program that on its face discriminates in favor of ‘BIPOC’ students, a racial and ethnic categorization,” Equal Protection Project founder William Jacobson, who is also a professor at Cornell Law School, told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “The law requires equal protection for all students, regardless of race and ethnicity, and we hope that a full investigation and determination will uphold this principle.”
Education Department civil rights investigations are opened to probe the validity of complaints, and therefore are not necessarily statements of complaints’ legitimacy. In a letter to the Equal Protection Project confirming the inquiry had been opened, the OCR stated, “During the investigation, OCR is neutral; OCR will collect and analyze the evidence it needs in order to make a decision about the complaint.”
University spokeswoman Kelly Tyrrell told the Washington Examiner that the school received the notice of investigation and “will cooperate” with the Education Department.
“The harm from racial educational barriers is that it racializes not just the specific program, but the entire campus,” Jacobson said. “Sending a message to students that access to opportunities is dependent on race is damaging to the fabric of campus.”
The “BIPOC” fellowship at issue is a “cohort-based program that convenes monthly to connect undergraduate Students of Color who are currently, or striving to, participate in community engagement,” according to its website. The school’s fellowship includes a $500 stipend and 90-minute meetings for attendees.
Equal Protection Project’s January complaint noted the program limited potential fellows to “member[s] of a historically underrepresented racial or ethnic group or community.”
Several webpages for the program that include racial requirements appear to have been taken down from the university website.
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Equal Protection Project is alleging a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the group cited the Supreme Court’s decision in rolling back affirmative action in the Students for Fair Admissions cases.
“After the Supreme Court’s decision in Students For Fair Admission, it is clear that discriminating on the basis of race to achieve diversity is not lawful, and violates, among other things, students’ 14th Amendment right to equal protection of the laws,” Jacobson said. “As Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the majority opinion, ‘[e]liminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.'”