DePaul hit with civil rights complaint over preferences for race and sex in scholarship applicants
An advocacy group has filed a civil rights complaint against DePaul University in Chicago for scholarships it says give preference to students based on race and sex.
The Equal Protection Project has published the complaint, which was filed with the Office for Civil Rights of the Education Department on April 8.
An advocacy group has filed a civil rights complaint against DePaul University in Chicago for scholarships it says give preference to students based on race and sex.
The Equal Protection Project has published the complaint, which was filed with the Office for Civil Rights of the Education Department on April 8. The complaint points to six scholarships that give preference to students based on sex and one that gives preference based on race.
“We are asking DePaul to live up to the law and its own rules, and to remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers it has erected,” EPP founder and Cornell University law professor William Jacobson said in a statement provided to Campus Reform.
“Racial, ethnic, and sex discrimination is wrong and unlawful no matter which race, ethnicity, or sex is targeted or benefits,” he continued. “All applicants are entitled to equal treatment without regard to race, color, national origin, or sex.”
According to its website, EPP is “devoted to the fair treatment of all persons without regard to race or ethnicity.” The group adds that, “[o]ur guiding principle is that there is no ‘good’ form of racism. The remedy for racism never is more racism.”
The complaint provides links and screenshots of the scholarships, which can still be found on DePaul University’s Scholarship Connect web page. For instance, the Dr. Curtis J. and Mrs. Gina Crawford Endowed Scholarship considers students of all races but gives first preference to African American students.
Other DePaul scholarships give preference based on sex, as well. The descriptions for the Margaret M. O’Malley Liput Endowed Scholarship, Watanuki Endowed Scholarship, Barbara L. Laughlin Endowed Scholarship, and Catherine H. Malin Endowed Scholarship explicitly state that preference is given to female students.
As of publication, the Amanda M. Tames Memorial Endowed Award omits any reference to a preference for female students, according to the scholarship web page.
EPP’s complaint invokes the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision against affirmative action in college admissions, and urges the Office for Civil Rights to take immediate action.
“[W]e respectfully ask that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights promptly open a formal investigation, impose such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from DePaul’s various scholarships based on discriminatory criteria, and ensure that all ongoing and future scholarships and programming at DePaul comports with the federal civil rights laws,” the complaint says.
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The EPP has various filed other civil rights complaints against universities because of discriminatory scholarships, including Indiana University South Bend.
Campus Reform has contacted DePaul University. This article will be updated accordingly.
