A conservative advocacy group has set its sights on the University of Virginia, asking the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the school for a new mentorship program designed to support minority students.
The Legal Insurrection Foundation filed a complaint with the department on Tuesday, claiming that UVa’s BIPOC Alumni-Student Mentoring Program openly discriminates on the basis of race and ethnicity.
The program for BIPOC — that is, Black, Indigenous and people of color — students is available to 25 undergraduates in the School of Education and Human Development. The school trains future educators, and with some studies showing mentorships can help retain BIPOC people in a predominantly White profession, “the program’s goal is to improve BIPOC undergraduates’ program experiences, career opportunities, and retention through pairing these learners with alumni mentors,” according to UVa.
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This is the first semester of the program’s existence. But the Legal Insurrection Foundation’s lawsuit aims to end the “racially discriminatory program” in its early stages. It argues the program is discriminatory, “because it conditions eligibility for participation on a student’s race, ethnicity and skin color.” It notes that the application asks students to identify their “race and/or ethnicity.”
A student walks past the University of Virginia Rotunda during the first week of the 2023-24 school year, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023.
“If applicants are not BIPOC, they are automatically ineligible for the mentorship program,” reads the complaint.
The foundation claims the program violates Title VI, part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in programs that receive federal aid. It also argues the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Because UVa is a public institution that receives federal funding, the complaint argues the schools is “liable for violating Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause.”
A description of the program on UVa’s website notes the potential benefits of the program.
A University of Virginia student walks in the tunnel under the Rotunda on the Grounds during the first day of classes on Tuesday Aug. 27, 2024.
“For BIPOC educators in the field, connections with colleagues and mentorship have proven particularly important as they navigate job demands and role ambiguity,” reads the website. “These relationships and subsequent mentorship can help ensure an educator’s commitment to the field, which has the potential for long-term impact and change to the profession.”
The foundation is unmoved. Its complaint asks the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to open an investigation and impose remedial relief “for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from the program … based on discriminatory criteria and ensure that all ongoing and future programming through UVA comports with the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.”
Jacobson
Founded in 2008, the Legal Insurrection Foundation is a frequent critic of such programs and has previously filed complaints with the Department of Education, disputing the legality of minority scholarships and programs that promote racial diversity. In 2021, it launched a website tracking schools it believes to be promoting critical race theory, which it considers a Marxist ideology.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling outlawing affirmative action, the foundation and other conservative groups across the country have launched legal challenges targeting programs at American universities promoting DEI — or diversity, equity and inclusion.
The complaint against UVa cites that ruling multiple times, as did foundation President William Jacobson in a statement about the complaint.
“After the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students For Fair Admission, it is clear that discriminating on the basis of race to achieve diversity is not lawful,” Jacobson said. “Regardless of the purpose of the discrimination, it is wrong and unlawful.”
UVa had not received the complaint as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
“If or when we do, we will examine it and respond as appropriate,” said UVa spokeswoman Bethanie Glover.
