Case Particulars

Tribunal

Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

Date Filed

November 19, 2024

Docket No.

N/A

Case Status

OCR Complaint Filed

Case Overview

On November 19, 2024, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a Civil Rights Complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against the California State University (CSU) system:

We bring this civil rights complaint against the California State University (“CSU”) system for its Young Males of Color (“YMOC”) Consortium which is housed at California State University Dominguez Hills and operates discriminatory “Men of Color” programs at 23 campuses in the CSU system…

 

At least eight of the CSU YMOC Consortium’s 23 programs, listed below, are currently operating and violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and its implementing regulations by illegally excluding students based on their race and skin color, and all of these programs violate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) and its implementing regulations by excluding females based on their sex.

 

Because CSU is a public education system, this discriminatory program also violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Complaint uses the CSU YMOC websites themselves to show that several of the programs held at CSU campuses discriminate based on race and sex.

The Complaint then explains why these programs violate the law:

The CSU YMOC Consortium violates Title VI and Title IX because several of its constituent programs, enumerated above, limit student participation based on race, skin color and sex. And, because the CSU and all of the schools that participate in the YMOC are public entities, such discrimination also violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

 

Title VI 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. Likewise, Title IX makes it unlawful for any to discriminate on the basis of sex in education. That statute provides that “[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).

 

The term “program or activity” means “all of the operations of … a department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or of a local government” and each state government agency “to which the assistance is extended.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-4a(1)(A), (B). It does not matter that a particular program may be considered “extracurricular” or just a “club” or “group,” the same considerations apply, as OCR noted in its 2023 Guidance on Race and School Programming. As the CSU receives federal funds, it is subject to both Title VI and Title IX.

The Complaint then summarizes and requests that OCR take action:

The CSU YMOC Consortium explicit racial and sex-based contours are presumptively invalid, and since there is no compelling government justification for such invidious discrimination, its creation, sponsorship and promotion of these programs violates state and federal civil rights statutes and constitutional equal protection guarantees…

 

The CSU is a public entity and a recipient of federal funds, including from the U.S. Department of Education. It is therefore liable for violating Title VI, Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, and OCR therefore has jurisdiction over this complaint…

 

The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate the CSU system’s role in creating, funding and promoting these programs – and, given how many there are, to discern whether the CSU system 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[.]” (citation omitted).

 

Accordingly, we respectfully ask that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights prioritize and expedite this complaint given the apparent systemic discrimination at the CSU system, promptly open a formal investigation, impose such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from the member schools’ programs based on discriminatory criteria, and ensure that all ongoing and future programming through the CSU system comports with the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.

OCR is evaluating EPP’s Civil Rights Complaint against the CSU system for further action.