Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights initiates investigation into 5 universities over DACA scholarships

CNN

4 days ago

Five universities are under investigation by the US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights for providing scholarships to undocumented immigrants enrolled in the Obama-era DACA program, according to a statement from the Department of Education Wednesday.
DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, allows hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children to live, work and pursue an education in the country.
The department's investigation focuses on scholarships for DACA students but also includes LGBTQ+ students of color, Latin or Hispanic, African American, Native American or other minority students, the agency said in a statement.
The schools under scrutiny are the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan and Western Michigan University.
'The investigations will determine whether these universities are granting scholarships only for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or 'undocumented' students, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964's (Title VI) prohibition against national origin discrimination,' the Department of Education said.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act bans any institution receiving federal funds from discriminating based on race, color and national origin.
The investigations into the universities were launched following complaints from the conservative nonprofit Legal Insurrection Foundation's Equal Protection Project.
'Protecting equal access to education includes protecting the rights of American-born students. At the Equal Protection Project, we are gratified that the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is acting on our complaints regarding scholarships that excluded American-born students,' said William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project. 'Discrimination against American-born students must not be tolerated.'
Calls and emails to the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami and Western Michigan University were not immediately returned.
John Karman, the University of Louisville's interim vice president for communications and marketing, told CNN, 'The university was just notified of the investigation yesterday. We are reviewing the claims.'
Kay Jarvis, the University of Michigan's director of public affairs, said in a statement to CNN, 'The university has received a letter of notification relating to this matter. We have no further comment.'
The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights office works to protect students by holding schools and colleges that receive federal funds accountable for combating antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and discrimination against students with disabilities. Efforts to dismantle the department are underway and the agency's civil rights office has been hit hard by a combination of layoffs and voluntary 'buyouts.'
What will happen to the office is still uncertain, but employees within the office have told CNN they are extremely concerned about their ability to process the claims effectively with half of the staff.
Earlier this year, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights sent letters to dozens of colleges and universities it says are under investigation for alleged violations 'relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination,' warning institutions of possible consequences if they don't take adequate steps to protect Jewish students.
CNN's Karina Tsui, Elizabeth Wolfe and Shania Shelton contributed to this report.