RADFORD, Va. – A legal advocacy organization has filed a federal civil rights complaint against Radford University, alleging the institution illegally used race as a factor in awarding certain scholarships.
The Equal Protection Project (EPP), which regularly challenges race-based policies nationwide, claims two specific Radford scholarships violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating based on race.
The organization has filed complaints against more than 120 universities regarding over 550 scholarships and programs that explicitly restrict participation based on race, national origin, color, or sex.
“We are challenging two scholarships at Radford that, by their terms, are restricted or favored minorities,” said William Jacobson, founder and president of the Equal Protection Project. “You cannot have an institution that’s a public institution and then also receive federal funding. You cannot have scholarships that discriminate on the basis of race. It’s really that simple.”
The Equal Protection Project is a facet of the Legal Insurrection Foundation (LIF), a conservative media group. LIF also oversees CriticalRace.org, a database tracking critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in education. Jacobson, who founded these organizations, says they emerged from research documenting what he calls “the racialization of education.”
“We believe we are improving the system by focusing on students as individuals rather than as proxies for identity groups,” Jacobson said. “The law is not permitted to engage in what amounts to racial stereotyping, assuming because of somebody’s skin tone they have been disadvantaged or discriminated against.”
The complaint specifically targets the Clementine Hansley-Hurt Memorial Scholarship and the RUC-George Solonevich Scholarship, which the organization claims show racial preference in their acceptance criteria.
“We’re not seeking to shut down scholarships. We want the students to get the money, but we think all students legally and morally should have an equal shot at it without regard to race, color, or national origin,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson noted that Radford already has internal non-discrimination policies.
“We’re actually not asking Radford to do anything other than what it has promised to do,” he said. “We’re asking them to live up to their own set of rules.”
The organization argues that any use of race-based criteria at a public, federally funded university violates federal civil rights law and the Fourteenth Amendment.
Radford University acknowledged the complaint in a statement: “We take seriously the complaint alleging that two scholarships discriminate against students based on their race, skin color or national origin and are reviewing the issue.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will review the complaint and determine whether to launch a formal investigation, a process that could extend several months. According to Jacobson, most cases result in schools negotiating a resolution with the Department of Education to open up scholarships to all students regardless of race.