Adding to its 50-plus civil rights complaints across the nation in recent years accusing academic institutions of race- and sex-based discrimination, the anti-affirmative action Equal Protection Project has filed a federal complaint against the University of Northern Iowa for what it called “discriminatory scholarships.”
In the complaint — filed Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — the Rhode Island-based group accused UNI of offering, administering and promoting 13 scholarships that “discriminate based on race, sex, or both.”
“Discrimination is unlawful no matter which race or sex is targeted or benefits,” Equal Protection Project Founder William A. Jacobson said in a statement about the complaint against UNI. “All students are entitled to equal treatment without regard to race or sex.”
According to the complaint, UNI offers and oversees six scholarships that discriminate on the basis of race and color, five that discriminate based on sex and two that do both — violating, it says, Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“We respectfully ask that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights prioritize and expedite this complaint, given the sheer number of discriminatory scholarships at UNI reflecting a systematic disregard for Titles VI and IX,” Jacobson wrote in the complaint, which also called on the office to “promptly open a formal investigation, impose such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from UNI’s various scholarships based on discriminatory criteria, and ensure that all ongoing and future scholarships and programming at UNI comports with the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.”
“We have not received notice from the Office for Civil Rights on this specific matter and will not have comment on a pending legal issue,“ UNI officials said in a statement Wednesday.
The complaint comes on the heels of state legislation and Board of Regents directives barring Iowa’s public universities from spending or committing resources to diversity, equity and inclusion offices or employees not required by law or for accreditation.
The new state law — taking effect this July — defines DEI, among other things, as “any effort to manipulate or otherwise influence the composition of the faculty or student body with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, apart from ensuring colorblind and sex-neutral admissions and hiring” and “any effort to promote differential treatment of or provide special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color, or ethnicity.”
The regents’ DEI directives include one requiring its campuses to ensure services supporting “diversity or multicultural affairs” are available to all students.
Regents next week will consider an update to the board’s strategic plan modifying diversity, equity and inclusion goals — with the campuses slated to update their plans in February.
"The Iowa Board of Regents will vote on January 15 whether to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language from its strategic plan as part of the legislatively prescribed elimination of DEI programming,“ Jacobson said in a statement. ”The blatant discrimination in the scholarships challenged by the Equal Protection Project highlights the need for such reforms, as DEI has turned into blatant discrimination."
Among the UNI scholarships highlighted in the complaint is the “Dr. Carlin Phillips Endowed Education Opportunity Fund,” described as a $1,000 award for a full-time elementary education student who identifies as a “person of color from Black Hawk County.”
A “Regions Bank Endowed Scholarship” offers up to $1,000 to full-time minority students from Black Hawk County, according to the complaint and UNI’s website. Criteria for a “Black Hawk County Opportunities Endowed Scholarship” includes “African American.” And a “Tillie Huismann & Jantze Huismann Endowed Scholarship” offers “preference to women from Spencer High School.”
“In this case, the explicit use of race-, skin color-, and sex-based criteria constitutes unlawful discrimination,” according to the complaint. “Regardless of UNI’s reasons for offering, promoting, and administering such discriminatory scholarships, UNI is violating Title VI and Title IX by doing so.”
In the complaint, Jacobson cites precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court — which in 2023 barred the use of race in college admissions.
“If the scholarships are intended to achieve racial balance, such an objective has been ‘repeatedly condemned as illegitimate’ and ‘patently unconstitutional’ by the Supreme Court,” according to the complaint.
“The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate UNI’s role in creating, funding, promoting and administering these scholarships — and, given how many there are, to discern whether UNI is engaging in such discrimination in its other activities — and to impose whatever remedial relief is necessary to hold it accountable for that unlawful conduct,” according to the complaint. “This includes, if necessary, imposing fines, initiating administrative proceedings to suspend or terminate federal financial assistance and referring the case to the Department of Justice for judicial proceedings to enforce the rights of the United States under federal law.
“After all, ‘The way to stop discrimination … is to stop discriminating’.”
During a November update on the universities’ efforts to comply with the new DEI legislation and regent directives, the University of Iowa reported it had made scholarship changes — namely cutting some that had class-based criteria.
“Scholarships and programs that were targeted toward minority students have been eliminated, and scholarship funds have been redistributed through the Slater grant program to support financially disadvantaged students,” UI officials reported.
UNI did not address scholarships in its November update.
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In the complaint — filed Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — the Rhode Island-based group accused UNI of offering, administering and promoting 13 scholarships that “discriminate based on race, sex, or both.”
“Discrimination is unlawful no matter which race or sex is targeted or benefits,” Equal Protection Project Founder William A. Jacobson said in a statement about the complaint against UNI. “All students are entitled to equal treatment without regard to race or sex.”
According to the complaint, UNI offers and oversees six scholarships that discriminate on the basis of race and color, five that discriminate based on sex and two that do both — violating, it says, Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“We respectfully ask that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights prioritize and expedite this complaint, given the sheer number of discriminatory scholarships at UNI reflecting a systematic disregard for Titles VI and IX,” Jacobson wrote in the complaint, which also called on the office to “promptly open a formal investigation, impose such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from UNI’s various scholarships based on discriminatory criteria, and ensure that all ongoing and future scholarships and programming at UNI comports with the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.”
“We have not received notice from the Office for Civil Rights on this specific matter and will not have comment on a pending legal issue,“ UNI officials said in a statement Wednesday.
The complaint comes on the heels of state legislation and Board of Regents directives barring Iowa’s public universities from spending or committing resources to diversity, equity and inclusion offices or employees not required by law or for accreditation.
The new state law — taking effect this July — defines DEI, among other things, as “any effort to manipulate or otherwise influence the composition of the faculty or student body with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, apart from ensuring colorblind and sex-neutral admissions and hiring” and “any effort to promote differential treatment of or provide special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color, or ethnicity.”
The regents’ DEI directives include one requiring its campuses to ensure services supporting “diversity or multicultural affairs” are available to all students.
Regents next week will consider an update to the board’s strategic plan modifying diversity, equity and inclusion goals — with the campuses slated to update their plans in February.
"The Iowa Board of Regents will vote on January 15 whether to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language from its strategic plan as part of the legislatively prescribed elimination of DEI programming,“ Jacobson said in a statement. ”The blatant discrimination in the scholarships challenged by the Equal Protection Project highlights the need for such reforms, as DEI has turned into blatant discrimination."
UNI scholarships
Among the UNI scholarships highlighted in the complaint is the “Dr. Carlin Phillips Endowed Education Opportunity Fund,” described as a $1,000 award for a full-time elementary education student who identifies as a “person of color from Black Hawk County.”
A “Regions Bank Endowed Scholarship” offers up to $1,000 to full-time minority students from Black Hawk County, according to the complaint and UNI’s website. Criteria for a “Black Hawk County Opportunities Endowed Scholarship” includes “African American.” And a “Tillie Huismann & Jantze Huismann Endowed Scholarship” offers “preference to women from Spencer High School.”
“In this case, the explicit use of race-, skin color-, and sex-based criteria constitutes unlawful discrimination,” according to the complaint. “Regardless of UNI’s reasons for offering, promoting, and administering such discriminatory scholarships, UNI is violating Title VI and Title IX by doing so.”
In the complaint, Jacobson cites precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court — which in 2023 barred the use of race in college admissions.
“If the scholarships are intended to achieve racial balance, such an objective has been ‘repeatedly condemned as illegitimate’ and ‘patently unconstitutional’ by the Supreme Court,” according to the complaint.
“The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate UNI’s role in creating, funding, promoting and administering these scholarships — and, given how many there are, to discern whether UNI is engaging in such discrimination in its other activities — and to impose whatever remedial relief is necessary to hold it accountable for that unlawful conduct,” according to the complaint. “This includes, if necessary, imposing fines, initiating administrative proceedings to suspend or terminate federal financial assistance and referring the case to the Department of Justice for judicial proceedings to enforce the rights of the United States under federal law.
“After all, ‘The way to stop discrimination … is to stop discriminating’.”
During a November update on the universities’ efforts to comply with the new DEI legislation and regent directives, the University of Iowa reported it had made scholarship changes — namely cutting some that had class-based criteria.
“Scholarships and programs that were targeted toward minority students have been eliminated, and scholarship funds have been redistributed through the Slater grant program to support financially disadvantaged students,” UI officials reported.
UNI did not address scholarships in its November update.
Anti-affirmative action group files complaint against UNI
Adding to its more than 50 civil rights complaints in recent years accusing colleges, universities, and other academic institutions of race- and sex-based discrimination, the anti-affirmative action Equal Protection Project on Monday filed a federal complaint against the University of Northern Iowa.
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