Posted: February 26, 2025
(Equal Protection Project)
Tribunal: Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
Case Overview
On February 26, 2025, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a Civil Rights Complaint against the University of New Mexico (UMN) with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) “for race-based and sex-based discrimination in violation of Title VI and Title IX, respectively. Specifically, UNM offers, administers, and promotes ten (10) scholarships that discriminate based on race, sex, or both.”
EPP’s Complaint then uses UNM’s own website to describe each scholarship and how it discriminates based on race and/or sex.
EPP’s Complaint then explains why these scholarships violate federal law and the United States Constitution:
The scholarships identified above 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. Furthermore, because UNM is a public university, 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. The term “program or activity” encompasses “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). As noted in Rowles v. Curators of the University of Missouri, 983 F.3d 345, 355 (8th Cir. 2020), “Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in federally funded programs,” and therefore applies to universities receiving federal financial assistance. Because UNM receives and administers federal funds through numerous programs and is a public institution, it is subject to Title VI…
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