Case Particulars

Tribunal

Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

Date Filed

March 12, 2025

Docket No.

N/A

Case Status

OCR Complaint Filed

Case Overview

On March 12, 2025, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a Civil Rights Complaint against Calvin University (CU) of Michigan with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) “for discrimination in sixty-five (65) scholarships based on race, color, national origin, and/or sex in violation of Title VI and Title IX, respectively.” The Complaint then “request[ed] expedited investigation and action on this case in light of the enormous number of discriminatory scholarships, by far the most we have ever seen at any one institution, and the ongoing award process.”

Then Complaint set forth the details of the various discriminatory scholarships in Appendices A (discrimination based on race), B (discrimination based on race and sex), and C (discrimination based on sex alone), using CU’s own website as the source of the data.

The Complaint also explains why these scholarships violate federal law:

The scholarships identified in Exhibit A, Exhibit B, and Exhibit C violate either Title VI, by discriminating on the basis of race, skin color, or national origin; Title IX, by discriminating on the basis of sex; or both.

 

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 Calvin receives federal funds, it is subject to Title VI…

 

In Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023), the Supreme Court declared that “[e]liminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it …. The guarantee of equal protection cannot mean one thing when applied to one individual and something else when applied to a person of another color. If both are not accorded the same protection, then it is not equal.” Id. at 206 (cleaned up). “Distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry [including race] are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality.” Id. at 208.

 

As OCR stated in its February 14, 2025, Civil Rights Guidance Letter:

 

“Although SFFA addressed admissions decisions, the Supreme Court’s holding applies more broadly. At its core, the test is simple: If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law. Federal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life. Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.”

 

Regardless of Calvin’s reasons for offering, promoting, and administering such discriminatory scholarships, Calvin is violating Title VI by doing so…

 

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education. The statute provides: “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a). Accordingly, a school receiving federal funding may not administer scholarships, fellowships, or other forms of financial assistance that impose preferences or restrictions based on sex, except in limited exceptions that are not applicable here. See 34 C.F.R. § 106.37(a).

The Complaint then summarized and requested that OCR take action:

Because the discrimination outlined above is presumptively illegal, and since Calvin cannot show any justification for it, the fact that it conditions eligibility for multiple scholarships on race, color, national origin, and/or sex violates federal civil rights statutes.

 

The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate Calvin’s role in creating, funding, promoting and administering these scholarships – and, given how many there are, to discern whether Calvin is engaging in such discrimination in its 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. 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 prioritize and expedite this complaint given the sheer number of discriminatory scholarships at Calvin reflecting a systematic disregard for Titles VI and IX, promptly open a formal investigation, impose such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from Calvin’s various scholarships based on discriminatory criteria, and ensure that all ongoing and future scholarships and programming at Calvin comports with the federal civil rights laws…

 

Given the enormous number of discriminatory scholarships – the most we have seen at a single institution – and that the award process is in progress, we request expedited investigation and enforcement action.

OCR is evaluating EPP’s Complaint for further action.