In its complaint to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), EPP asserts that the allegedly discriminatory nature of the program violates federal civil rights law and the U.S. Constitution.
“Haas violates Title VI by conditioning eligibility for participation in the Haas Thrive Fellows program on a student’s race and national origin,” the complaint states. “And, because Haas is a public institution, its offering and administering of this discriminatory program also violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
EPP founder William Jacobson told Fox News that the university needs to enforce its rules.
”At every level, by policy the university rejects discrimination,” Jacobson said. “UC-Berkeley and Haas should live up to their own set of rules. Sending a message to students that access to opportunities is dependent on race and ethnicity is damaging to the fabric of campus.”
Campus Reform has previously reported about other complaints filed by the Equal Protection Project, including against the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Fordham University, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In total, EPP has filed more than 30 complaints.
The lawsuit against UIUC, which was filed in August, challenged 42 scholarships at that school, alleging that they were discriminatory and thus violated Title VI and Title IX protections.
“UIUC has achieved diversity but in the worst way,” EPP’s Jacobson said about UIUC’s scholarships. “The array of discriminatory scholarships collectively discriminates against almost everyone. Discrimination does not become lawful just because there is a diverse group of victims.”
