Case Particulars

Tribunal

Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

Date Filed

March 19, 2025

Docket No.

N/A

Case Status

OCR Complaint Filed

Case Overview

On March 19, 2025, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a Civil Rights Complaint against the Institutional Member Colleges of the “North Star Collective,” all located in the New England region, with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

From the Complaint:

We make this civil rights complaint against the twenty (20) higher education institutions (“Collective Members”) comprising the 2024-2025 North Star Collective (“Collective”), for administering and promoting the North Star Collective Fellowship (“BIPOC Fellowship”) which provides educational opportunities and programming to faculty and discriminates on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin in violation of Title VI…

 

The following institutions were listed on the Collective website as 2024-2025 Institutional Members.

Boston University
Bridgewater State University
Endicott College,
Framingham State University
Goodwin University
Rhode Island College
Roger Williams University
Sacred Heart University
Salem State University
Simmons University
University of Bridgeport
University of Hartford
University of Maine
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Boston
University of New Hampshire
University of Southern Maine
University of Vermont
Westfield State University
Worcester State University

The Complaint then explains the history and purpose of the North Star Collective:

The Collective is “a group of colleges and universities in the New England region that are working towards transformative racial equity and are committed to supporting and uplifting Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other faculty of color (“BIPOC”) on their campuses.” The Collective is part of the New England Board of Higher Education (“NEBHE”), focused on a “…broader reparative justice initiative, which is committed to restoring, nourishing and uplifting BIPOC faculty in the region, and supporting leaders as they transform institutions around racial equity.”

 

NEHBE established the Collective in 2021, in part, for Collective Members to “…collaborate, share best practices, and problem-solve on issues related to faculty racial equity on their campuses.”

The Complaint then explains the operation of the North Star Collective BIPOC Fellowship:

Collective members receive up to two seats in the BIPOC Fellowship. The BIPOC Fellowship “promotes healing and repair by providing a nourishing community of care, mentorships and professional development for early career BIPOC faculty in New England.” It was “…created by BIPOC faculty for BIPOC faculty to support their professional development.” Although Collective members may only send two (2) faculty members to the BIPOC Fellowship, there is no limit on the number that may apply. Further, Collective Members must pay a yearly membership fee of $6,500 as well as promote the BIPOC Fellowship…

 

Fellows receive a $1,000 stipend, admission to two (2) multi-day writing retreats, attendance at a biweekly virtual writing accountability group, closing ceremony, networking opportunities, and research promotion.

 

The BIPOC Fellowship also “…provides a support network for BIPOC faculty to help navigate the challenges they face in their academic careers, including isolation, lack of community and mentorship, and barriers to publication…”

 

The BIPOC Fellowship requires Faculty to be “Self-identifying BIPOC faculty.” BIPOC faculty is defined by the Collective as “… those who are Black/African/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, Native/Indigenous, Arab/Middle Eastern, Asian/Asian American/Pacific Islander, and Multiracial.” Faculty members who are white need not apply.

The Complaint then, using the North Star Collective Members’ own websites, explains each Member’s participation in the North Star Collective BIPOC Fellowship.

The Complaint then explains how the Collective Members of the North Star Collective BIPOC Fellowship violate federal law, and in some cases, the United States Constitution, by their participation in the BIPOC Fellowship:

The BIPOC Fellowship violates Title VI because it conditions eligibility for participation on a faculty member’s race and/or ethnicity. 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 the Collective Members receive federal funds, they are subject to Title VI.

 

Further, Bridgewater State University, Framingham State University, Rhode Island College, Salem State University, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of New Hampshire, University of Southern Maine, University of Vermont, Westfield State University, and Worcester State University are all public universities making their involvement in the BIPOC Fellowship a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Complaint then summarizes and requests that OCR take action:

Because the discriminatory eligibility criteria of the BIPOC Fellowship are presumptively invalid, and because the Collective Members cannot show any justification for these restrictions, the limitation of this program based on race and ethnicity violates federal civil rights statutes. The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate the member schools’ role in promoting and administering this fellowship 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,” the Supreme Court has taught, “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 open a formal investigation, impose such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from the Collective based on discriminatory criteria and ensure that all ongoing and future programming through the member schools comports with the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.

OCR is evaluating EPP’s Complaint for further action.