A conservative national organization has filed a civil rights complaint against the University of Alabama, claiming that a scholarship for Black students is discriminatory.
The Equal Protection Project argued that the school should not promote an English scholarship that is designated only for applicants of a certain race or ethnicity. According to AL.com, the organization has become known for challenging race-based affirmative action.
In the complaint filed on April 25, the organization stated that UA had violated Title VI regulations by retaining the award. Part of the Civil Rights Act, Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and/or national origin. The grant in question was reportedly named the Norton-Textra Endowed Scholarship for Minority Students in the English Department.
“Regardless of UA’s reasons for offering, promoting, and administering such a discriminatory scholarship, UA is violating Title VI by doing so,” wrote the organization. “It does not matter if the recipient of federal funding discriminates in order to advance a benign ‘intention’ or ‘motivation.’”
The complaint stated that the scholarship would only review applicants who identify as full-time African American students pursuing a degree in English. However, UA’s website currently lists the scholarship as for students “Interested in Minority Writing.”
Moreover, the eligibility requirements no longer specify any racial criteria, instead focusing on GPA and grade classification.
A 2023 Supreme Court decision prohibited U.S. colleges and universities from considering race in their admissions processes. However, some schools have also gone beyond the initial ruling by removing scholarships and programming related to race.
Furthermore, the Trump administration has cracked down on DEI initiatives across federally funded schools. Higher-education institutions across Alabama have already shut down their DEI offices amid national and statewide legislative pressure.
However, this crackdown on diversity awareness and upliftment has led to pushback from other institutions, such as Harvard University. The school has refused to comply with these new Trump-ordered guidelines. The President retaliated by pausing federal contracts and grants worth billions for the school.
The University of Arizona (UA) has not responded publicly regarding the complaint. However, the alleged removal of the race stipulation in its scholarship signifies their compliance with the new anti-DEI policies.
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