Civil rights groups filed a complaint on Friday to offer racial-based scholarships to the University of Alabama (UA).
The university website shows it Offer The “Norton Textra Donation Scholarship for English Minority Students” only For African-American students pursuing an English degree, the Equality Protection Project (EPP) argues that it violates federal civil rights law and the constitutional equal protection guarantees.
“It’s amazing that racist scholarships exist in major public universities that are deeply “red” states,” EPP founder William A. Jacobson told DCNF. “It’s time for higher education to focus on the unique values and dignity of all students, rather than categorizing students based on identity groups.”
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OCR Complaints – University of Alabama by Katelynn Richardson
The scholarship was founded by Dr. Myron Tuman, WW Norton & Co., Inc., and Proceeds from the 1991 Fiesta Bowl” according to the award description. This year’s application deadline is May 31st.
A university’s general scholarship application automatically considers students qualify for awards, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office. (Related: DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Probe University of California Admission Policy)
“Racial and national origin-based eligibility criteria are mechanically applied here,” the complaint states. “If the applicant does not meet racial and ethnic requirements, each will be automatically disqualified due to scholarship eligibility.”
“The UA’s racial and/or ethnic requirements for this scholarship are presumably invalid and the use of such standards violates state and federal civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees of equal protection, as there is no government justification for such mysterious discrimination,” the complaint continues.
The EPP alleges that the scholarship violates both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equality Protection Clause in Section 14. According to Jacobson, the group “submitted almost 100 cases of challenges on more than 300 discriminatory scholarships and programs.”
“The Equality Protection Project calls on senior UA managers to ensure that non-discrimination standards are supported across the agency,” Jacobson said.
The University of Alabama did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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