Case Particulars

Tribunal

Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

Date Filed

May 6, 2026

Docket No.

05-26-2349

Case Status

OCR Complaint Filed

Case Overview

On May 6, 2026, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a Civil Rights Complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against Bradley University (“Bradley”) regarding its Hometown Scholars Program (“BUHSP”), which discriminates on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin in violation of Title VI, and on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX.

EPP’s Complaint states:

We bring this civil rights complaint against Bradley University (“Bradley”), a private institution, regarding the Bradley University Hometown Scholars Program (“BUHSP” or “the program”) which racially discriminates in violation of Title VI.

The Complaint uses Bradley’s own websites to demonstrate the discriminatory nature of this program.

Next, the Complaint further explains why the program violates federal law:

The BUHSP violates Title VI by discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The Hometown Scholars Program limits eligibility to students from “underrepresented population[s].” As noted above, Bradley’s Office of Inclusive Excellence states that it considers “underrepresented communities” to include “Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and multiracial students, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community and first-generation college students.” This language reflects that the program is for students from those racial and ethnic categories, such that students who do not fall within them—particularly non-minority students who are neither members of the LGBTQ+ community nor first-generation college students—are either excluded from eligibility or would be deterred from applying.

 

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits intentional discrimination on the basis of 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 Bradley receives federal funds,8 it is subject to Title VI.

 

Finally, the Complaint then requests that OCR take action:

The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate Bradley’s role in creating, funding, promoting and administering this program and to discern whether Bradley is engaging in such discrimination in its other activities – as well as the duty to impose whatever remedial relief is necessary to hold it accountable for this 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. After all, “[t]he way to stop discrimination … is to stop discriminating[.]” Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch. v. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 551 U.S. 701, 748 (2007).

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

 

OCR is evaluating EPP’s Complaint for further action.