Case Particulars

Tribunal

Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

Date Filed

August 4, 2024

Docket No.

N/A

Case Status

OCR Complaint Filed

Case Overview

On August 4, 2024, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a Civil Rights Complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against Fordham University. The Complaint alleges that Fordham, which is a recipient of federal funding, “operates, administers and promotes three discriminatory scholarship programs: The ‘Diversity Fund,’ the ‘Fordham Scholarship,’ and the ‘Latino Social Work Coalition Scholarship Program.’ These scholarship programs, among other things, set up unequal standards of eligibility so that students similarly situated are treated differently based on race and ethnicity, in clear violation of Title VI.”

The Complaint then sets out, in detail and using Fordham’s own website, the eligibility conditions for the three scholarship programs.

Title VI, which prohibits race-based discrimination by any entity receiving federal funding, applies to Fordham University. From the Complaint:

Fordham violates Title VI by conditioning eligibility for or providing preferential treatment for the above programs based on a student’s race, color and/or ethnicity. Title VI prohibits intentional discrimination based on race, color or national origin in any “program or activity” that receives federal financial assistance. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000d. The term “program or activity” means “all of the operations . . . of a college, university, or other postsecondary institution, or a public system of higher education.” See 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-4a(2)(A); Rowles v. Curators of the Univ. of Mo., 983 F.3d 345, 355 (8th Cir. 2020) (“Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in federally funded programs,” and thus applies to universities receiving federal financial assistance). As Fordham receives federal funds, it is subject to Title VI.

The Complaint summarizes and requests OCR take action:

The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate Fordham’s role in creating, supporting and promoting the discriminatory scholarship programs and to impose whatever remedial relief is necessary to hold it accountable for that unlawful conduct. 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.

 

Accordingly, we respectfully ask that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights open a formal investigation, impose such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of anyone who may have been illegally excluded from the scholarship programs described above based on discriminatory criteria, and ensure that all ongoing and future programming at Fordham comports with the federal civil rights laws.

OCR is evaluating EPP’s Civil Rights Complaint for further action.