University of Arkansas to remove race and ‘diversity’ language from 100+ scholarships

The University of Arkansas will modify over 100 scholarships to remove mentions of race and diversity to comply with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against affirmative action. 

A conservative organization that targets race-based practices in academia says its efforts led to the university’s response.

The Fayetteville-based university has been reviewing its scholarships since January and has been notifying donors throughout the year, The Arkansas Advocate reported Dec. 4. The news platform was the first to report the number of scholarships the university has reviewed thus far.

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The Equal Protection Project, a conservative watchdog organization that has filed hundreds of civil rights complaints against universities over race and sex-based scholarships, claimed partial credit for the university’s extensive modification in comments to Campus Reform on Monday.

“The Equal Protection Project is the most aggressive group opposing civil rights violations done in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” EPP founder William A. Jacobson told Campus Reform over email. “We have challenged over 200 schools covering over 700 programs and scholarships, including both the University of Arkansas and the University of Central Arkansas.”

“We are pleased that these Arkansas universities are taking a preemptive approach to eliminating discriminatory programs and scholarships, and it is clear that our civil rights complaints have helped motivate them,” he continued. “That is a big win for us.”

The EPP filed civil rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against the University of Arkansas in September 2024 and the University of Central Arkansas in October. 

The University of Arkansas says it is continuing to speak with donors about specific scholarships to decide on a course of action.

“Most donors contacted recognize the University’s obligation to make revisions given changes in the legal environment, including the Supreme Court’s Students for Fair Admissions decision,” a university spokesman told The Arkansas Advocate.

“If donors wish to discuss refined modifications, we are open to discussing that with them, but the bottom line is that scholarships must be compliant with legal requirements,” he continued.

In the 2023 case of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Supreme Court ruled that race-based “affirmative action” is unconstitutional. Scholarships that limit applicants based on race could fall under the court’s prohibition. 

[RELATED: Survey highlights most parents oppose race-based scholarships]

Many other universities have faced EPP complaints about discriminatory scholarships in the past year.

In August, the EPP filed a civil rights complaint against the University of Richmond in Virginia with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights over three “discriminatory” scholarships.

That same month, Rutgers University deleted pages dedicated to race-based scholarships that the EPP filed a civil rights complaint over. One of the scholarships required students to “[i]dentify as under-represented (African American, American Indian, or Latino) and/or first generation.”

“Our goal is to eliminate discrimination, not to eliminate programs and scholarships,” Jacobson told Campus Reform. “We want students to get educational opportunities and financial aid, but it must be done without regard to race or ethnicity. All students are entitled to an equal opportunity, and we welcome preemptive self-correction.”

Campus Reform contacted the University of Arkansas for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.