Lawsuit accuses Westfield State University of discriminatory scholarships
WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A new lawsuit is accusing Westfield State University of discrimination.
A federal civil rights complaint was filed by the Equal Protection Project. The complaint says that a number of scholarships at the school that quote 'celebrate diverse experiences' are discriminatory.
Westfield State University offers a variety of scholarships to help minority students wanting to achieve their dream of getting a college education. They could be coming from local public schools or a community college. But the Equal Protection Project says that amounts to discrimination.
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'When we looked, there were six scholarships that are their face, that are discriminatory,' said William Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project. 'Right in the description: '4. On the basis of race or ethnicity,' which violates title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and '2. On the basis of sex,' which violates Title IX of the Civil Rights Act.'
The lawsuit states that six scholarships through their 'Westfield State Foundation' listed on their website violate both Title VI and Title IX. The filing includes scholarships that directly go towards helping Latinos, African Americans, and women.
The foundation argues that the scholarships are unfair to students who don't fit into those categories. Also, since Westfield State is a public university, the foundation states that these scholarships also violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
'If you only take third-year students, it should be open to all third-year students,' Jacobson said. 'If you only take first-year students, it should be open to all first-year students. Our goal is not to end the scholarships. We want the students to get the money, but we think every student should have an equal shot.'
Jacobson said they did not reach out to the institution, since the applications for these scholarships closed on March 23. Instead, they filed a complaint with the Department of Education in hopes of a formal investigation.
22News reached out to Westfield State University but did not hear back yet. Jacobson also said that over 30 schools with similar cases have chosen not to fight this complaint.
They're now asking the office for civil rights to investigate.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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