The nonprofit Equal Protection Project launched a civil rights complaint Wednesday against the University of Rhode Island alleging the school’s scholarships discriminate based on sex and race.
The school, according to the complaint filed with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, offers 51 student scholarships that restrict eligibility based on certain demographics. Such offerings are unacceptable, the group wrote.
“The discrimination is so pervasive and systematic that urgent action by OCR is needed before the scholarships come up for reapplication in the spring 2025 semester,” the complaint reads.
Such scholarships include the “Alumni of Color Network Scholars Fund,” the “George & Lois Graboys Minority Student Endowment” and the “The Women in Business Endowed Scholarship.” These funds violate several federal laws and potentially the 14th Amendment, the complaint claims.
“Those scholarships identified above that discriminate on the basis of race, skin color or national origin violate Title VI, while those that discriminate on the basis of sex violate Title IX, and those that discriminate on both grounds violate both Title VI and Title IX,” the complaint reads.
“URI’s explicit racial and sex-based scholarships are presumptively invalid, and since there is no compelling government justification for such invidious discrimination, URI’s offering, promotion and administration of these programs violates state and federal civil rights statutes and constitutional equal protection guarantees,” it adds.
The group then called for an investigation of the scholarships and enforcement by the Department of Education.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the University of Rhode Island said the school “has not received any notice of this complaint from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.”
“The University works diligently to comply with the regulatory landscape, and we remain committed to our foundational values, including fostering an inclusive community and respect for the rights and dignity of all,” the spokesperson said.
Several Republican lawmakers are pushing to abolish the U.S. Department of Education entirely, saying it constitutes a waste of federal funds. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., last month introduced the Returning Education to Our States Act to redistribute its programs to other federal departments.
“The federal Department of Education has never educated a single student, and it’s long past time to end this bureaucratic Department that causes more harm than good,” Sen. Rounds said in a statement. “Local school boards and state Departments of Education know best what their students need, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”
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