Case Particulars

Tribunal

Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity

Date Filed

August 26, 2026

Docket No.

N/A

Case Status

Complaint Filed

Case Overview

On August 26, 2026, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (“FHEO”) against Northern Arizona University (“NAU”) “.. operating two discriminatory university housing programs that use race- and ethnicity-based descriptions and promotional materials to steer students based on race, color, and national origin, in violation of the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”).”

EPP’s civil rights complaint begins by introducing the Fair Housing Act:

NAU’s discriminatory Focused Housing Programs encourage, and/or deter, students from dormitory housing based on race, color, national origin, and therefore violate multiple provisions of federal law. Most obviously, these programs violate the Fair Housing Act because they classify and promote university housing based on race and national origin. Even if HUD were to conclude that the programs are not formally exclusionary, they independently violate the Act’s prohibition on discriminatory housing statements and racial steering.

 

Under the FHA, it is unlawful to “make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.” Under applicable Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). regulations enforcing the FHA, this kind of “steering” toward or away from housing based on race is strictly prohibited. Steering liability attaches even if the housing program does not physically bar members of other racial or ethnic groups from participating.

The Complaint next explains how these programs violate federal law:

NAU’s identity-based “Focused Housing” programs are university-sponsored residential communities that allow students to live together while participating in shared programming centered on a common identity. According to NAU, “[t]hrough community-building activities, educational opportunities, networking, academic support, and social and cultural events, community members can deepen their learning and understanding, reduce social isolation, and build lasting connections within a supportive environment.”

 

Finally, EPP’s complaint  requests FHEO take action:

FHEO has the power and obligation to investigate NAU’s role in creating, promoting, and administering the three identified discriminatory housing programs, to discern whether NAU is engaging in discrimination in other activities, 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 request that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity promptly open a formal investigation, impose all appropriate remedial measures authorized by law to address the three identified discriminatory housing programs at NAU, and ensure that all current and future initiatives and programs fully comply with the FHA, Title VI, the Fourteenth Amendment, and other applicable federal civil rights guarantees.

FHEO is evaluating EPP’s civil rights complaint for further action.