Latest news with #WilliamA.Jacobson
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Conservative group files federal complaint against UConn over DEI scholarships
A conservative group that's pursuing anti-DEI complaints against more than a dozen state universities on Wednesday targeted the University of Connecticut, accusing the school of violating civil rights law by setting aside numerous scholarships exclusively or chiefly for minority students. The Rhode Island-based Equal Protection Project complained to the federal education department's Office of Civil Rights that UConn illegally invoked race, ethnicity or gender in awarding several scholarships. 'That racially discriminatory scholarships exist at a major public university is disheartening. It is time for higher education everywhere to focus on the inherent worth and dignity of every student rather than categorizing students based on identity groups,' according to William A. Jacobson, founder of the campaign. Numerous universities and colleges maintain 'minority-focused' scholarships, internship programs, summer residencies or other financial aid tools aimed at increasing enrollment by Black, Hispanic or other student groups. Educators contend that affirmative action programs are important to overcoming a historical pattern in which minorities have been under-represented in higher education. But the Equal Protection Project insists that race- or nationality-based financial awards are unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 ruled that two 'race conscious' admissions programs in higher education violated the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law. This year, the nonprofit Equal Protection Project has sharply stepped up its campaign of anti-discrimination complaints. Since January it has gone to the Office of Civil Rights to contest scholarships at the University of Oregon, the University of Alabama, the University of Nebraska, Drake University, Bowdoin College, the University of South Carolina and about 15 others. On Wednesday, the organization announced that it's challenging the legality of four UConn scholarship programs. UConn said late Wednesday that it had not yet gotten a copy of the complaint or been told which funds it involves. 'Generally speaking, UConn continually reviews its scholarship and financial aid criteria against current legal requirements and adjusts as needed to ensure compliance,' UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said. 'Some such scholarship funds are currently paused following the recent Dear Colleague letter and other related federal guidance, and UConn is working with donors and departments to make any necessary revisions.' In mid-February, the U.S. Department of Education issued a 'Dear Colleague' letter ordering educational institutions that get federal funding to stop using race preferences as a factor in deciding admissions, discipline, hiring, scholarships and more. The Equal Protection complaint quotes UConn's mission statement: 'UConn has a strong commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ). We aim to support diversity, equity, and inclusion through offering support for success for people of all backgrounds.' Jacobson's group argues that that's illegal when it blocks non-minority students from being eligible for aid or awards. 'We are asking UConn to live up to the law and its own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers it has erected,' the organization said in a statement. 'Racial and ethnic discrimination are wrong and unlawful no matter which race or ethnicity is targeted or benefits. All applicants are entitled to equal treatment without regard to race, color, or national origin.' In February, Jacobson told ProPublica that his organization opposes any discrimination, saying 'If there are programs that exclude Black students, we want the department to go after that, but I am not aware of such programs.' At UConn, he contends that Bryan K. and Alice M. Pollard Scholarship rules are discriminatory. They say 'Applicants must have overcome obstacles such as socioeconomic or educational disadvantage, be members of underrepresented groups at the university, including students of color, or have experience living or working in diverse environments.' The complaint alleges that the Sidney P. Marland Jr. Fund for Educational Leadership is also being run illegally because the criteria say 'The award provides scholarships for minority undergraduate and graduate students in educational leadership.' He also is challenging a dietetics program diversity scholarship that states 'priority given to candidates of an ethnic or racial background which is underrepresented at UConn,' as well as the Philo T. Pritzkau Fund for graduate students in the Neag School of Education, where the rules say 'priority consideration will be given to African American, Hispanic American and Native American students.' Long-time civil rights organizations such as the NAACP and the Southern Poverty Law Center condemned the Supreme Court's decision when it came out in 2023. Voters the next year elected President Trump, who is working to dismantle DEI initiatives across the country. Soon afterward, the federal education department's civil rights office stopped or slowed its review of thousands of civil rights complaints, according to ProPublica. At the same time, it began an investigation into whether universities show bias against white students. 'Let me be clear: it is a new day in America, and under President Trump, OCR will not tolerate discrimination of any kind,' Craig Trainor, acting director of the office, told ProPublica. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights takes a different view. 'The American Dream is not equally available to all. In 2023, the Department of Education reported that it received the most civil rights complaints in its history, most of which allege race, sex, or disability discrimination,' according to the group. 'While the number of Black people with college degrees has increased over the last two decades, Black people remain relegated to lower wage jobs and less lucrative industries compared to white people with similar levels of education, and Black women experience some of the largest pay gaps,' it said.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MTSU faces federal civil rights complaints over minority-preference scholarships
Middle Tennessee State University faces a federal civil rights complaint accusing MTSU of discrimination through 17 minority-preferred scholarships. The Equal Protection Project based in Barrington, Rhode Island, filed the complaint May 8 with the Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education offices in Washington and Atlanta, according to a document shared with a press release embargoed for 1 p.m. May 8. The complaining organization's press release included comments from William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project ( "The use of DEI in higher education is controversial, particularly in 'red' states,'" Jacobson said in the press release. "Regardless of where one stands on DEI, violation of the Civil Rights Act is unlawful. It is time for higher education everywhere to focus on treating each student as an individual, rather than categorizing students based on identity groups." The 17 scholarships mentioned in the complaint included the Edith Ann Clark Moore Scholarship with the following guideline: 'Preference will also be afforded to students whoare underrepresented minorities.' Moore grew up in the Murfreesboro area and attended the former historic Cemetery School that served Black children prior to desegregation in Rutherford County. "It is shocking that in a state like Tennessee, which has passed legislation seeking to avoid discrimination done in the name of DEI, that openly discriminatory scholarships are offered at a major state university," Jacobson said in the press release. "MTSU has strong non-discrimination policies. MTSU should live up to its own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers it has erected. "At EPP our guiding principle is that the remedy for racism never is more racism. To the extent MTSU seeks greater diversity, there are many lawful means of achieving that goal, but discrimination is not one of them." This is a developing story. The DNJ has reached out MTSU for comment. History of school for Black children: Murfreesboro Cemetery School to be restored by descendants of students who went there The press release offered the following additional comments from Jacobson. "The Equal Protection Project calls on the senior administration of MTSU to make sure nondiscrimination standards are upheld throughout the institution," the release said. "At EPP we have filed almost 100 cases challenging over 300 discriminatory scholarships and programs. In no case are we aware of a school claiming it was free to discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin, so why does it keep happening? Unfortunately there is a culture on many campuses that excuses some forms of racial discrimination, and that needs to stop. Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@ To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription. This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU faces federal civil rights complaints over minority scholarships
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MTSU faces federal civil rights complaints over minority-preference scholarships
Middle Tennessee State University faces a federal civil rights complaint accusing MTSU of discrimination through 17 minority-preferred scholarships. The Equal Protection Project based in Barrington, Rhode Island, filed the complaint May 8 with the Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education offices in Washington and Atlanta, according to a document shared with a press release embargoed for 1 p.m. May 8. The complaining organization's press release included comments from William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project ( "The use of DEI in higher education is controversial, particularly in 'red' states,'" Jacobson said in the press release. "Regardless of where one stands on DEI, violation of the Civil Rights Act is unlawful. It is time for higher education everywhere to focus on treating each student as an individual, rather than categorizing students based on identity groups." The 17 scholarships mentioned in the complaint included the Edith Ann Clark Moore Scholarship with the following guideline: 'Preference will also be afforded to students whoare underrepresented minorities.' Moore grew up in the Murfreesboro area and attended the former historic Cemetery School that served Black children prior to desegregation in Rutherford County. "It is shocking that in a state like Tennessee, which has passed legislation seeking to avoid discrimination done in the name of DEI, that openly discriminatory scholarships are offered at a major state university," Jacobson said in the press release. "MTSU has strong non-discrimination policies. MTSU should live up to its own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers it has erected. "At EPP our guiding principle is that the remedy for racism never is more racism. To the extent MTSU seeks greater diversity, there are many lawful means of achieving that goal, but discrimination is not one of them." This is a developing story. The DNJ has reached out MTSU for comment. History of school for Black children: Murfreesboro Cemetery School to be restored by descendants of students who went there The press release offered the following additional comments from Jacobson. "The Equal Protection Project calls on the senior administration of MTSU to make sure nondiscrimination standards are upheld throughout the institution," the release said. "At EPP we have filed almost 100 cases challenging over 300 discriminatory scholarships and programs. In no case are we aware of a school claiming it was free to discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin, so why does it keep happening? Unfortunately there is a culture on many campuses that excuses some forms of racial discrimination, and that needs to stop. Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@ To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription. This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU faces federal civil rights complaints over minority scholarships
Fox News
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Illiterate high school graduates suing school districts as Ivy League professor warns of 'deeper problem'
Two high school graduates who say they can't read or write are suing their respective public school systems, arguing they were not given the free public education to which they are entitled. Cornell Law School Professor William A. Jacobson, director of the Securities Law Clinic, told Fox News Digital the lawsuits signify a "much deeper problem" with the American public school system. "I think these cases reflect a deeper problem in education. For each of these cases, there are probably tens of thousands of students who never got a proper education — they get pushed along the system," Jacobson said. "Unfortunately … we've created incentives, particularly for public school systems, to just push students along and not to hold them accountable." President Donald Trump has railed against the Department of Education for "failing American students," a White House fact sheet published Thursday reads. The administration has suggested plans to eliminate the Department altogether, directing education authority to individual states. "Since 1979, the U.S. Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion with virtually nothing to show for it," the fact sheet reads. "Despite per-pupil spending having increased by more than 245% over that period, there has been virtually no measurable improvement in student achievement: Math and reading scores for 13-year-olds are at the lowest level in decades. … Seven-in-ten fourth and eighth graders are not proficient in reading, while 40% of fourth grade students don't even meet basic reading levels." An appellate court judge recently sided with Tennessee student William A., ruling that the student was denied the free public education to which he is entitled under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). "William graduated from high school without being able to read or even to spell his own name," Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote in his judgment. "That was because, per the terms of his IEPs, he relied on a host of accommodations that masked his inability to read." To write a paper, William would speak the topic into a speech-to-text software and paste the words into an AI app like Chat-GPT, which would then "generate a paper on that topic," Kethledge explained. William would then paste that text back into his own document and "run that paper through another software program like Grammarly, so that it reflected an appropriate writing style." William, who has severe dyslexia, went through 12 years of public education with an independent education plan (IEP), never learned to read or write, and still graduated with a 3.4 GPA, according to court documents. "This kid can't read." When William was in 9th grade in 2020, a special education teacher asked a school psychologist to "[p]lease take a look at William [A]. I am very concerned." The teacher stated: "this kid can't read," according to the suit. The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) in Tennessee, "knowing he cannot read, passed him right along, creating an artificial GPA of 3.41 by the end of eleventh grade putting William on a path to regular education diploma, even though he lacked basic reading skills," the original complaint reads. CMCSS told Fox News Digital it does not comment on pending litigation. "By March 2023, William could not consistently spell his own first and last name while signing his IEP. And in June 2023, William's own writing sample illustrated he was unable to write more than 31 words in three minutes. He misspelled half the words, all of which were Kindergarten level sight words he had memorized," the lawsuit reads. In a similar lawsuit out of Connecticut, a high school graduate named Aleysha Ortiz argues similarly that she went through years of public education in Hartford County with a learning disability and IEP without ever being taught how to read or write. Ortiz not only graduated with honors, but she was also admitted into the University of Connecticut, according to the complaint. Ortiz argues in her complaint that while her reading and writing skills were not properly addressed, she presented "younger than her age socially and emotionally" and was subjected to bullying. Like William, Ortiz began using "assistive technology to help her read and write, and advocated for herself tirelessly in school," the complaint states. "She told them that she was concerned that she was not prepared for college…" "In May 2024, the Plaintiff reported to her case manager and PPT that she had been accepted and planned to attend the University of Connecticut after graduation," the complaint states. "She told them that she was concerned that she was not prepared for college and would not be able to obtain the accommodations she would need in college to be successful due to the Board's refusal to permit proper testing." Ortiz was concerned that her elementary-level reading and writing skills would "impact her ability to be successful in college," but "[t]t wasn't until approximately one month before graduation that the [Hartford Board of Education] agreed to conduct additional testing that the Plaintiff had been asking for." Attorneys for the Hartford Board of Education did not respond to Fox News Digital. Jacobson told Fox News Digital that "in fairness" to teachers and school districts, they are "caught between various forces pushing against each other." "On the one hand, there's oftentimes money tied to performance. And if you fail students, if you don't advance them, that could affect the funding that the school district gets," he explained. "There are individual students who have parents who … want them not to fail. And so there's a lot of pressure there." An increasing number of public school students have IEPs, meaning more students have individualized learning programs that teachers, who are already overwhelmed by national employee shortages, must accommodate by law. "This is a real problem, and it's a failure at its core of our educational system." "Obviously, it varies district to district," Jacobson said. "Some have perfectly good intentions. Some have maybe not good intentions and just want to go along to get along." The Cornell Law professor added that while he does not see AI going anywhere in the future of education, "we've got to be very firm that AI does not end up actually dumbing down the students rather than informing the students, because you can become very dependent on it, and that's another problem, but it's one we can't ignore." Additionally, Jacobson said, parents should be more focused on helping their children to read and write. "I think parents would be better focused on helping their students and their children learn, rather than worrying about the next lawsuit," he said. "I realize that might be a little unrealistic, because we are in a culture of trying to cash in on lawsuits, but I think our energy should be focused on fixing the system and getting students properly treated, as opposed to: how are we going to sue the school district?" Justin Gilbert, the attorney representing William A., told Fox News Digital that "[w]ith up to 20% of the students in the United States having dyslexia, William's case reinforces the need for dyslexia-trained teachers." "Most of us take reading for granted, but once we move outside the 'reading window' of the elementary school years, learning to read becomes much harder," Gilbert said. "That's particularly true for students with dyslexia. William's case is a reminder, though a tragic one, of the need for greater awareness of dyslexia in the public schools."
